Co manager could bring in HGV ban with 'stroke of biro'

A TOTAL ban on heavy goods vehicles going through Slane was not "a black and white issue" and the only real solution to the village's traffic problems was a bypass, Meath county manager Tom Dowling told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport last week. However, Slane residents claim there is a "cycle of apparent inaction" in putting additional safety measures in place and demanded to know when construction of a bypass would begin. "Despite all relevant parties agreeing that Slane's road safety problems are very serious, all we have seen is a lot of deliberation and little effective action. Either they know how serious the situation is and they really don't care, in which case they are in gross neglect of their responsibilities, or they do not, in fact, understand the extreme urgency of the situation", the resident said. The county manager told the TDs and senators that an order to ban HGVs through the village would be difficult to implement. He said that a ban might lead to problems elsewhere, with HGVs using roads not built to carry them. Mr Dowling said that he was "deeply concerned" that a HGV ban would create problems for residents elsewhere. "Yes, we can do it. Yes, the law allows us to do it, but we have just got to find a way." Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd suggested to Mr Dowling that he had to implement the ban. "You don't have a choice", he said. Meath East Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne said that the manager could bring in the ban "with a stroke of your biro". He said that two alternative routes to the N2 route through Slane already existed in the M1 and the M3/N3 and that more creative thinking should be used to make the ban work. Meath East Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee said that the stretch of road was "the worst accident blackspot in Europe". He said that the National Roads Authority and Meath County Council had a responsibility to provide a safe road, and added, "The next road fatality in Slane will be blood on our hands if action is not taken immediately." In their presentation, the residents said that Slane had a medieval bridge and an 18th century road carrying 21st century articulated traffic. "Sixteen hundred trucks pass through this residential village each day, an intolerable situation that has directly caused deaths and made hostages of the community". The group had returned after a previous presentation to put questions directly to the county manager and the chief executive of the National Roads Authority, Fred Barry, who had been summoned to the meeting to explain their organisations' position on these issues. Both officials admitted that the only solution to the ongoing problem in Slane was a bypass. The residents said that Mr Barry had said that there must be a bypass of the village "on economic, environmental and safety grounds" while Mr Dowling said that the village would be "destroyed" without a bypass. Asked when the bypass was likely to happen, Mr Barry said that while previous delays to the project were caused by changes in national policy, the NRA expected to be ready to submit plans to An Bord Pleanala in October, a process which could take up to two years after which time funding alone would be the determining factor. He confirmed that the Slane bypass was in phase two of the Government's Transport 21 strategy which meant that all current major inter-urban projects would have to be completed before Slane was considered. However, in relation to exceptional cases like that in Slane, he added that the Minister had ultimate discretion to prioritise such projects. The residents severely criticised a report which was drawn up by council officials following a call by councillors for a ban on HGVs through the village. They said they were "extremely disappointed" with the negative tone of the report and that it was "so selective in the parties that were consulted and that there was no reference whatsoever to the safety, wellbeing and quality of life of the residents". They strongly questioned the value of requesting that the NRA carry out another similar report. They asked: "Without 24 hour-a-day speed cameras will a 30km speed limit offer any real improvement? Also, how will such a speed limit stop out-of-control HGVs on the hill through the village to the bridge?" The residents said that in the absence of a bypass and a HGV ban, traffic calming measures would appear to be the most likely to improve road safety in Slane. However, they had severe criticism for measures put in place after the last fatality in 2001. They suggested several measures which might help. In a question directed to Meath Co Council and the NRA, they asked: "When the next multi-vehicle collision happens in Slane, as inevitably it will, this time perhaps causing several deaths - given the many warnings you have received already and the lack of effective and timely action, will you feel you have adequately discharged your duty of care to the people of Slane?"