Mixed reation to relief road funding

THE announcement that a grant of €100,000 has been allocated to Cork County Council to conduct a preliminary study into the proposed Mallow Relief Road was met with a mixed response by local public representatives.

Paul Moran, regional director of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), wrote to the authority outlining the funding allocated to the project for 2016 and where it will be spent.

In his letter to council chief executive Tim Lucey, Mr Moran acknowledged the intensive lobbying campaign for the project, particularly referencing the case made for the road in a report by consultants Indecon.

The report, commissioned by the Mallow Representative Group (MRG) and given to Transport Minister Paschal Donohue last summer, estimated the relied road could be worth as much as €90 million to the local economy.

Mr Moran said that under the government’s Capital Investment Programme (2016 – 2021) a number of projects, including the Mallow Relief Road, would be progressed “subject to planning”.

“We therefore propose a grant in 2016 of €100,000 to Cork County Council to progress a feasibility study on the planning and design of the scheme,” wrote Mr Moran.

He said the study would consider a number of points including the zoning of land and a comparison between a recent plan for the scheme and one drawn up in 2006.

Other aspects of the study will include the ability of the existing N20 road to cope with traffic projections, the future proofing of a proposal to accommodate a link to the N72 west of Mallow and if it should be incorporated into a wider M20 Cork-Limerick motorway project.

News of the funding was welcomed by Cork East Fine Gael TD Tom Barry, who described it s a “major step forward”.

“It is also confirmation of the government’s commitment to delivering on its promise to build this much needed road,” said Deputy Barry.

However, County Mayor Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind) was more circumspect, describing the funding as “little more than a pre-election ploy” by the government.

“Al least the road got some monies for 2016, even if the attached conditions yet again reiterates to me TII’s total lack of commitment to progressing the Mallow Bypass and the N20/ M20 in general,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“To be perfectly honest, this seems to me more of a weak political election gesture than any genuine attempt to make real progress on this project, which is of vital importance to the future sustainability of Mallow and the wider north Cork region,” he added.