N11 Arklow to Rathnew

It seems apparent that our Government Place more emphasis on relieving traffic flow than on relieving the deaths and injuries on our roads, in other words its less important to them to stop deaths than it is to keep traffic flowing.

This has been proved by the apparent inaction taken to prevent the deaths and injuries that have occurred on a regular basis on the portion of road between Rathnew and Arklow in Co. Wicklow. Now the question is who is in charge of road development? The Government say the NRA ( National Roads Authority) are and the NRA say the Government hold the purse strings. While this typical Irish attitude carries on more people are going to be killed on the N11 and I place the blame firmly at the doors of our elected Government, the same elected officials that promised the upgrading of the N11 while they were running around scrounging our votes, Bertie Ahern himself made a promise that the upgrade would go ahead..

Liz McManus (Labour TD) was quoted in the Wicklow Times as saying that

“All that is needed is the go-ahead for funding from the Government”

she also said

“…that money was already allocated for this project but diverted to Waterford….”

This is proof that bottle necks get more priority.

In an email I received from the NRA it is obvious that the NRA is waiting for approval from the government,

“The Authority is conscious of the case for constructing the N11 Arklow-Rathnew scheme and has worked closely with Wicklow County Council to advance the project. You will be aware that the project has received An Bord Pleanála approval and funding was subsequently made available for archaeological investigations and excavations along the route. The work concerned has been completed, leaving the scheme well placed to progress to construction as soon as the overall funding position of the Authority permits. The Authority will continue to keep the matter under review taking account of the Government's priorities for the national roads programme as already outlined and the competing demands from other projects.”

Interesting that the words competing demands are used, maybe we have to have more deaths on our road (N11) before the NRA or the Government will get the road completed.

Now don’t get me wrong the NRA have spent a few quid on the N11,

“The Authority, in conjunction with Wicklow County Council has taken a number of steps to improve safety on the existing Arklow-Rathnew Road. These include improved signage and lining, provision of Garda observation areas, a reduction in the speed limit on a section of the road and the recent completion of a new section of rod eliminating dangerous bends. We will continue to liaise with the Council on the effectiveness of these measures and the scope for other safety initiatives pending the availability of funding to allow construction of the new road to proceed.”

Again its apparent that the NRA are not in touch with the real world, in European statistics it has been proven that driving on a two lane carriageway is safer than driving on a single two way road.

The RSA (Road Safety Authority) said that

“In 2005 over 78% of all fatal and injury collisions occurred on two-way single carriageways, while 4% occurred on dual carriage ways.”

Is this not enough proof? Apparently not it seems that the road schemes that are in progress are there for the benefit of business. Again I quote the email received from the NRA,

“Transport 21 also provides for significant development of other key national primary roads including the N11, as well as a number of national secondary routes which are identified in the plan as being particularly important for regional development.”

Important for regional development and not for road safety. It seems that the N11 at the Ballinameesda Bends isn’t in that plan. Maybe the government doesn’t see that area as a development possibility.

If as the NRA have indicated that work will not begin until 2010, then we the road users should be prepared to loose up another 15 people on the Ballinameesda bends and have to care for up to another 100 people in our already overstretched hospitals.

John P. Kavanagh