'Idiotic' not to construct Slane Bypass

Dear sir - Let nobody be in any doubt, Slane needs a bypass, whether single carriageway, dual carriageway or motorway, as a matter of the utmost urgency. The project to bypass the village of Slane, although it is on the N2, is being pursued as a completely standalone project because of the recent belated realisation on the parts of the Government, the National Roads Authority and Meath County Council of the extreme dangers faced by residents and other road-users on this notorious stretch of road. There has been debate recently about the value-for-money offered by upgrading the N2. Let nobody be in any doubt, this is a separate issue; the urgency of the Slane Bypass must not get overshadowed by this debate. Recent commentators have thrown out wildly inaccurate and misleading figures for the cost of the project without quoting their sources. The latest estimate of the cost of land purchase and construction of the 3.5km bypass is put by Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority at €50m. What is the taxpayer getting for this spend? In their annual report, the Road Safety Authority present an index for calculating the economic cost of road traffic accidents, calculated by Goodbody Economic Consultants. Applying this index to the published Garda figures for Slane, the total cost of collisions for the 10-year period 1998 to 2008 stands at €35.3 million. Any careful economic analysis of the cost of construction of the bypass must take these figures into account. It appears likely that the bypass will pay for itself in perhaps 15 years, and this without tolls! Surely this represents value for taxpayers' money and it would be 'idiotic' to not to take this opportunity. Let us not forget either the huge non-monetary costs that have been borne by this besieged community over decades. An intolerably high price has already been paid by the people of Slane. How much more are we expected to pay? Yours, Conor Brady, 42 Ledwidge Hall, Slane,