Listowel bypass could be a big turn off for drivers

SIR, Wading through the reams of paper and photomontages in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) produced by the engineers and planners working for and on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), formerly the National Roads Authority, one cannot be but impressed by the sheer amount of work and detail that has gone into the design and layout of the proposed €40 million, 7km (partial) N69 bypass of Listowel town.

We are told that of the 7km, approximately 3.8km is new road, 1.2 km is an upgrade of existing road network and the remainder is an upgrade of the existing John B. Keane road. There will be three new roundabouts; one each on the Finuge road, Greenville road and the Ballybunion road along with four new bridges including a new 115m bridge spanning the river Feale, new shared cycle and pedestrian facilities and the conversion of the existing roundabout at the cinema (Clieveragh) to traffic lights. 60 landholdings will be affected and 12 ‘rights of way’ will be extinguished.

Yet for all this engineering and planning, the EIS tells us that, based on their ‘ traffic modelling’, traffic going south from the start point at the Cahirdown (Tim Kennelly) roundabout on the Tarbert road to the end point at Billeragh (close to Coolnaleen cross) on the Tralee road will take approximately 6.5 minutes if this new route is chosen compared to over eight minutes if one chooses the existing road straight down through the town. By the same measure, traffic travelling northbound will take seven minutes compared with over 10 minutes at present during the evening peak period. They then tell us that by 2032 the travel time northbound will have only increased to 7.5 minutes along the new route from start point to finish.

Anybody who has seen the film Sully, based on the true story of Chelsey Sullenberger who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River, will have noted how all the computer simulations conducted afterwards showed that he could have manoeuvred his plane back to LaGuardia airport. But when human intuition and decision making time was added to the computer modelling, it was proven that Captain Sullenberger made the correct choice and saved all on board Flight 1549 by ditching his plane in the river.

Does anybody really believe therefore that commercial traffic heading south for the milk factory for example (and the mart), will intuitively turn right at the Cahirdown roundabout to then go through two sets of traffic signals and a further three roundabouts to save 1.5 minutes and then travel the other mile to the factory?

Does anyone really believe that commercial traffic exiting the milk factory will intuitively turn right and go a mile out the Tralee road to then traverse a (partial) bypass of the town to save what by then will be a lot less than the proposed three minutes reduction in travel time?

What’s most likely to happen is that traffic the town wants to stay, i.e. tourists and out-oftowners will use the (partial) bypass and the big trucks will continue as before.

I therefore can’t escape the conclusion that the EIS is just there to cover the posterior of those who made the decision back in October 2011 to apparently give less consideration to the other four alternatives that were put forward by TII.

Despite the mountains of information in the EIS, only two small paragraphs are given to what is described as a “Preliminary Assessment Framework Matrix” on the five route options that were put forward back when people had other more important things on their minds like keeping their jobs and being able to feed their families.

Option B for example, a route from the milk factory through a new junction south of the Big Bridge connecting the Duagh and Tralee roads where it then proceeds to cross the river Feale over a new bridge in an almost direct line towards Bolton’s Cross (Athea road intersection) with very little in the way, is given a medium preference on engineering and economy (cost) and a low preference on environment. Perhaps this is what the Fianna Fáil councillors at the time meant as they dismissed this route outright by invoking the Knight of Kerry and going through places of “particular beauty”.

What is the environmental and human impact of big diesel engines belching out nitrous oxide alongside housing estates, crèches and schools for generations to come I wonder?

The proud people of Listowel deserve better than this. An EIS should also be completed on Option B, even if it costs extra millions and delays the project so that the people of Listowel can then compare for themselves the impact on their town of what is being proposed and not by comparing it to doing nothing as currently exists in this environmental impact report.

Written observations/objections can be made to An Bord Pleanala through to July 7.

Sincerely, Tom McElligott, Tournageehy, Listowel.