Again the Minister refuses to stop road deaths on N11

Well it seems that our Minister for Transport is proving that he and his department are proving to be a Department who are unable to communicate and also are unable to plan correctly.

These were proved by the Aer Lingus, Shannon and Heathrow debacle and also recently the provisional license mess he, the RSA and his Department didn't plan very well. I remember Gay Byrne said shortly after his appointment to the post of Chairman of the RSA,

"that if the government interfered with his running of the RSA"

he would resign, well I think its time for Mr. Byrne to go and take the Minister with him. It appears that the Minister is unable to run his Department at all.

The attitude of the Minister for Transport towards road safety is apparently non existent, take the N11 between Rathnew and Arklow, in the last six months three people died on this stretch of road, there were also other collisions resulting in personal injuries and damage to property that according to the Department of Transport cost the state upwards of €10,000,000 (Road Safety Strategy 2007 – 2012), when the Minister was pressed on the N11 he was at pain to point out that the Department spent €750,000 on remedial work at the Ballinameesda bends, now I'm at a loss would the €10 million death money have been better spent on completing the last dangerous section of the N11 in Wicklow? The Department have said that the N11 Rathnew to Arklow will be started (not completed) in 2010, so at that rate we should expect to loose another 15 drivers, passengers and possibly innocent road users before its finished, the cost to the state about €50,000,000. My belief is that the money wasted on road deaths could be better spent on completing the most dangerous road in Ireland and cutting down the cost of road kills. The math's is not difficult to comprehend, €50 million, compared to the cost of the completion of this road. Recently the Minister opened the Gorey bypass and in his photo call had the nerve to say that the "New Gorey bypass would remove up to 10,000 cars a day from the town", but obviously the Minister in his usual small minded manner does not see that the 10,000 a day cars still travel along the N11 between Rathnew and Arklow therefore upping the chances of deaths.

He also said "The economic dividend of the bypass will be significant as it will make a vital contribution towards the continued prosperity of the region. It will help deliver improved regional access and it will make a significant contribution to road safety in the area. The bypass has been built ahead of schedule and on budget. This Government is committed to transforming Ireland's transport infrastructure to facilitate business and tourism in the region while also making our roads safer and less congested."

Now unless he was flown to the opening of the Gorey bypass he would have traveled through the Rathnew/Arklow section of the N11 and seen for himself the state of this part of the road, he would possibly have seen the congestion and maybe have taken note of the potential danger this road presented, including the remedial work at the Ballinameesda bends.

In an email I received from the Minister he pointed out that "under section 17 of the Roads Act 1993, the detailed planning, design and implementation of individual national road improvement projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the relevant local authorities concerned - in this case Wicklow County Council."

This has been completed.

He also pointed out that "In the early years of Transport 21 (the period up until 2010) the NRA is charged by the Government with concentrating much of their efforts on completing the five Major Inter Urban (MIU) routes linking Dublin to Cork, Galway, Limerick and the Border. The N11 is not one of these routes."

So is he saying that the government don't believe that the N11 is a major inter urban route?

Martin Cullen seemed to believe that the N11 is part of the inter urban route.

"The Arklow - Gorey Bypass will be a strategic link in our national roads network as it will be part of the southern road corridor between Dublin, Wexford and the Euro-route EO1. It has been designated as a Strategic Radial Corridor in the National Spatial Strategy." This was part of a speech relating to the Arklow – Gorey bypass, now unless my geography is not great, I'm fairly sure you have to pass through the Rathnew to Arklow part of the N11 to get from Dublin to Wexford.

In Minister Dempsey's road opening at Gorey speech he pointed out that, "High quality infrastructure is critical if Ireland is to maintain its competitiveness on the world stage. Last year alone over 300 million tonnes of goods were transported by road. Journeys of over 150km accounted for 50% of this activity. This highlights the importance of effective and safe access to our ports especially along the Eastern Sea Board where the bulk of this activity occurs. Today's road opening demonstrates the NRA's commitment to the delivery of major schemes along this corridor on time and on budget. This ensures value for the Irish taxpayer while protecting the viability of the region's commercial and tourism sectors". Again I have a geography issue, doesn't most of this cargo travel from Wexford to Dublin using the N11 or is there a secret road that we don't know about?

Also did you notice the mention of the taxpayer, value, I don't think so, and the cost of deaths proves that.

The Minister also mentioned in his email to myself that "Unfortunately, no matter what action we as a Government take in terms of improving our roads the primary cause of almost 90% of all road accidents remains driver behaviour – mainly speeding. It is my understanding that the accidents statistics for the N11 as a whole do not indicate any significant deviation from this norm. We are doing our best to address this problem and the Road Safety Authority is taking worthwhile initiatives in the area. Furthermore, I note that the Gardaí have allocated additional resources to the area, to ensure better compliance with road traffic legislation and in an effort to address driver behaviour and driver error." Are these the same Gardai that the government promised us the electorate during the last two elections?

Maybe if we had the police force required then they could cope with the state of the roads and the carnage that the government in my mind are complicit in.

John P. Kavanagh