Duleek demands route changes to proposed orbital motorway

A major campaign to get the National Roads Authority (NRA) to shift the proposed route of an 80km motorway away from Duleek is being organised by local people who say that it will threaten the future of the village and pose a threat to its heritage. They have accused the NRA of creating the proposed 'corridor' within which the motorway may run of failure to consult local people. One of the organisers of protests against the route, Paddy Duffy, said: "It would be a disaster if the proposed route were allowed to stand because it makes no sense for the community, for business, for the national heritage areas oo even for future users of the Leinster Orbital Route itself." The group has as its main aim the transfer of the proposed route away from Duleek and its location further south. They said that, in April last year, the NRA published a document entitled 'The Final Report on the Leinster Orbital Route Feasability Study' which described a motorway which would commence at the Duleek/M1 Interchange, and link Drogheda/Navan to Naas/Kilcullen, offering easy access to all interlinking national roads and motorways. The proposed route is on a 2km-wide corridor that stretches 80km across Meath and Kildare. The group says the route was created and proposed by the NRA "without any public consultation whatever". No finance has yet been allocated for the motorway but once the route proposed by the NRA is accepted, no building or development can take place within the corridor's 'sterilised zone' for the 10-15 years it takes to construct it. According to the Duleek group, a leading firm of consulting engineers was engaged to evaluate the route selection, and to focus principally on the Drogheda/Duleek segment of the route. "In principle, they are very supportive of the concept of the new motorway, but on detailed evaluation they have established that the current route selection will give rise to a major impact on the village of Duleek, if the NRA proceeds with the motorway in the corridor they propose." They also state that the NRA firstly identified "constraints" in the Duleek area, "basically major topographical or environmental locations which should be avoided", including the Duleek urban centre, the natural heritage areas of Duleek Commons and Thomastown Bog, the Platin cement factory, and the quarries at Platin and Donore, and the Navan-Drogheda railway line. "Having pointed out the 'constraints', they then proceeded to run the motorway corridor right througn them!", the Duleek group said in a statement. "Even stranger, they entirely omitted the Indaver plant presently under construction and the site of the Scottish and Southern Energy power plant, both of which are within the motorway corridor. It is noteworthy that along the rest of the route to Naas, wherever the NRA identified 'constraints', they avoided them with the proposed route corridor. "So, even though they clearly identify and acknowledge specific 'constraints' in the environs of Dulee, the NRA proposed to develop the route through the relatively small urban centre of Duleek, through the historic Commons and Thomastown Bog, through the operational areas of three big local industries in Platin, Indaver and Scottish, and right through the Navan-Drogheda railway line and the High Meadows residential estate," they added. The protesters say that the selection of the Duleek interchange as the starting point of the Leinster Orbital Route had serious issues. "The existing Duleek interchange is only a half interchange at present, and is unsuitable for connection to a major new motorway. The NRA report suggests that southbound traffic on the M1, which wants to access the new orbital route, would either exit at the Donore interchange and use the single carriageway link, or would access the new route through Drogheda town centre. Just imagine decanting a major stream of motorway traffic onto the local Duleek-Drogheda 132 or back through Drogheda itself!" The group said it was very important that the NRA be persuaded to slightly alter their present proposal, and "do it right, avoiding Duleek altogether, locating the start point closer to the toll plaza and constructing a proper, full motorway interchange at the start of the orbital route". The group said the NRA proposal may just be lines on a map at present, but until it is changed to reflect justified local concerns, there is a risk that it could become irrevocably set in stone, with all the lifestyle disruption, quality of life degradation and habitat destruction that implies. A new motorway starting point must be agreed further south, and the precise line of the motorway must be finalised by local agreement, the group added. The group has asked supporters to view its website at www.duleekmotorway.com