Rail agency says building a bridge-on-stilts for Luas could lead to new inquiry.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has said it may not have the legal power to build a "bridge-on-stilts" across the Red Cow roundabout for the Tallaght Luas line, in west Dublin.
The board of the RPA, which is to meet within a few days, has nevertheless been asked to consider the proposal by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, after a report from consultants O'Connor, Sutton and Cronin Associates found the engineering aspects of the stilts-style bridge were feasible.
The RPA has said legal advice will be necessary on whether the Minister has the power to vary the existing railway order - the legal permission to build the light rail scheme which was subject to detailed design and a public inquiry in 1998.
If the advice suggests a new railway order is required there would have to be a new public inquiry leading to a new railway order; a move which would take a minimum of nine months as a precursor to the construction of the proposed stilts-bridge.
Even if the legal advice is that the current railway order is adequate, the RPA said the Minister's proposal must also be assessed in terms of structural feasibility, cost and need.
Despite the RPA assertion that Luas would not impact heavily on traffic at the Red Cow roundabout, the Minister believes existing traffic jams at the Republic's busiest junction are sufficient to warrant the stilts-bridge.
The Red Cow roundabout already congests the State's busiest road, the M50, which carries in excess of 80,000 vehicles a day.
Following the findings of the O'Connor, Sutton and Cronin report, Mr Brennan is keen that the decision to separate Luas from other traffic be taken now, before capacity at the roundabout further declines.
The key issue for him is whether the current railway order can be amended without a long delay at a new public inquiry.
But an RPA spokesman, Mr Ger Hannon, told The Irish Times this is just one of four considerations for the RPA. These are: "Can it be done, is it worth doing, the absolute cost, and have we the power to do it under the current (railway) order?"
Mr Hannon said the first would depend on the structural feasibility report which the RPA was currently reading; the second would depend on a cost benefit analysis; and the third would depend on the finance being available.
On the fourth, Mr Hannon said: "In limited circumstances, the Minister would have the ability to vary a railway order. But a new public inquiry, if necessary, would take a minimum of nine months. That would be a precursor to the construction period - a move which could put the opening of the Tallaght Line back at least to the middle of 2006, possibly to 2007.
On predictions of traffic chaos at the Red Cow and long delays to Luas trams, Mr Hannon said the RPA did not accept there would be significant negative impacts on the current congestion due to Luas.
Mr Hannon said signals would be open to other traffic when they were open to Luas and the presence of Luas crossing did not mean the junction had to close. He instanced motorists leaving the northbound carriageway of the M50 who would meet a red light with traffic crossing. "Part of that traffic would be Luas, but they would meet a red light anyway," he maintained.
Mr Hannon compared it to pedestrians crossing a busy street at a junction. They waited until there was a red light for the traffic before crossing the street: "The traffic has to stop anyway, the pedestrian crosses, but is not delaying traffic."
