The Kildare town by-pass which gave rise to a decade of environmental concern focusing on the Pollardstown snail, will open before the end of the year, Kildare County Council and the National Roads Authority (NRA) jointly announced yesterday, writes Tim O'Brien
However, they warned that traffic delays are likely to worsen before they get better as the completion of the by-pass will involve the temporary closure of the existing Curragh dual-carriageway, and the diversion of traffic onto the old N7 between Newbridge and Kildare. The council said the diversion, which will begin on August 12th, is vital to the early completion of the new motorway and will facilitate its tie-in with the existing Newbridge by-pass.
When the 12 km by-pass opens it is expected to take up to 30 minutes off the journey between Dublin and the south and south-west. It will take 17,000 vehicles a day out of Kildare town centre.
Kildare County Council began designing the by-pass more than a decade ago. The project was estimated then to cost around €55 million. The planned route across the environmentally sensitive Curragh plain was approved by the then minister for the environment, Mr Brendan Howlin, in January 1996. Construction work "will begin next year and should be finished by 2000", the Department stated.
But environmental concerns about the Pollardstown Fen, which had been raised at a public inquiry in 1994, persisted. The fen, a unique nature reserve, is located 4.5 km from the by-pass. It is especially noted for the presence of a rare species of snail (the whorl snail) and a special type of spring (tufa springs).
Following complaints to the European Commission by An Taisce, the snail, the angistora vertiego, was suddenly thrown into the limelight.Tabloid hyperbole talked of the project grinding to a halt "all because of this little creature".
While the snail became famous, Mr Tony Lowes, of An Taisce, maintained the conflict was really over a plan to drain millions of gallons daily from the water-rich Curragh Aquifer to facilitate the by-pass through it, and its likely impact on the Pollardstown Fen. An Taisce had no option but to go to Europe with its concerns because of Ireland's failure to implement fully the EU Habitats Directive, the organisation said.
Following negotiations with the Commission, the then minister for the environment, Mr Noel Dempsey, granted clearance for the tendering process to go ahead in 2000. Conditions imposed by Mr Dempsey in granting permission for the project included measures for the enhanced protection of the ecology of the area. For the first time in Irish road construction, a system known as "tanking" was used. Pioneered in the Netherlands, tanking is used in road- and bridge-building as a controlling mechanism for groundwater drainage.The NRA said the saga had added €6.35 million to the cost of the road and put the price at about €75 million in November 2000. The estimated cost of the project is now about €160m, but Kildare County Council stressed yesterday that this was the entire cost, including legal, planning, land and construction costs.
The Monasterevin by-pass is expected to be completed in 2005.