‘We have lived with intolerable danger, it’s now time to see this road built’

Meath Co Council has submitted a planning application to An Bord Pleanala for the long awaited Slane bypass.

Eleven years since planning permission for the project was refused by the planning board, local residents, public representatives and council planners are hoping that this latest application will be successful.

Local campaigners are adamant the project is badly needed.

“We have seen 23 people killed on the roads around our village, we have lived with the intolerable danger of heavy traffic and put up with the degradation of our village environment for far too long, it’s now time to see this road built,” said Michele Power of the Bypass Slane campaign.

The proposed bypass will take heavy traffic away from the notoriously dangerous Slane Bridge and the steep descent in the village, where 23 people have died in road traffic accidents.

The N2 Slane Bypass and Public Realm Enhancement Scheme comprises 3.5km of a mainline N2 dual carriageway bypass, a bridge approximately 258m long crossing the River Boyne, three roundabouts, the realignment of 1.4km of the N51 National Road and Public Realm improvement and traffic management measures in Slane Village.

Michele Power said since the bypass was refused in March 2012, Meath Co Council had eleven years to work on a new plan “to take the ever-present danger posed by the volume of traffic and heavy goods vehicles that travel through Slane on a daily basis, out of the village.”

“We hope that this new application by Meath Co Council will stand up to the robust scrutiny that will most definitely come, from sections both inside and outside of our community, and that they will finally deliver this desperately needed piece of infrastructure for Slane.”

John Ryle of the Slane Bridge Action Committee, who has been campaigning for the bypass for decades said he was delighted that a new application was being made.

“The traffic in Slane is even worse now than it was ten years ago,” he said. “I hope they are successful this time.”

Cllr Wayne Harding said it was an outstanding day for the north east of the country, as the Slane bypass goes back to planning.

“I really am delighted with this news. It is just over a decade since the refusal of the bypass by An Bord Pleanala, which left the people of Slane so disappointed and bewildered.

“I go forward now with renewed optimism, as this plan is coupled with a public realm plan for the entire village of Slane that will transform the street landscape after the bypass delivery.

This is a game changer for the people of Slane. Every single inhabitant of the village must enter the N2 to go about their daily lives and all children in Slane national school must share the dangerous road with thousands of cars and trucks every day.”

He said the few minutes of promotional video footage the council has produced for the proposal is stunning.

“It shows exactly what the scheme is trying to achieve, and what it will achieve will come as an extraordinary relief to the people of Slane.

“I want to pay tribute to everyone in transportation in Meath Co Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland who painstakingly worked on getting us to where we are today. I believe that this application is an excellent one and I have watched and participated in every part of the route selection and design process including taking part in the work shops on the public realm plan for the village.

“The planning process will also be long and no doubt people from near and far will start having an opinion on what is primarily the people of Slane’s bypass. I would ask that people who will say it’s not needed to look at the roads appalling safety record, to look at the intolerable traffic volume that villagers and commuters have to endure and keep objections to a minimum.

“The Minister of Transport has said that not all roads will be built and the ones that will be built are those that take traffic out of our towns and villages. No project in the country fits that description better than the Slane bypass.”

Cllr Harding said the benefits of the project are enormous. “The dangerous N2 through Slane village will be replaced by a pedestrian and cycle access point from the proposed Boyne Greenway, leading to a 5km looped route around the stunning village taking in Ledwidge Cottage, the Hill of Slane, Slane Castle and its distillery.

“Slane sits so brilliantly in the heart of the Boyne valley that this project has the potential to be part of the area becoming one of the countries biggest tourist attractions.

“Many people talk about Adare's beauty in Limerick. It just recently got cabinet approval for its much needed by pass. I look forward to the day when I hear the same news about Slane. Both are stunning places that will grow in their beauty without the traffic,” he said.