Sligo's newly opened 'inner relief road' has turned out to be every bit as bad as its opponents feared, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
Sligo county and town manager Hubert Kearns has said its new inner relief road "will greatly enhance the urban environment for people to reside, work in or visit" Sligo town. Officially opened last Friday, it cost €74 million to build.
The 4.5km dual carrigeway from Carrowroe roundabout on the N4 to Hughes Bridge had been bitterly opposed by many local people because of the damage it would do to Sligo's urban fabric. More than 50 houses had to be demolished to make way for it.
Cutting through a mesh of older streets, the road is fronted along much of its length by concrete walls faced in sandstone panels and limestone-clad pillars. The walls are generally two metres high, but in some places reach five.
Although the current Sligo and Environs Development Plan describes the route as an "urban street", not a single building actually addresses it; one apartment scheme under construction is being built right behind the wall, with no frontage to the road.
Along much of its length, there simply is not room for new buildings to provide proper street frontages. Surviving terraces of houses facing on to the highway or backing on to it are all fronted by the walls that line it, as if penned in to protect them from the traffic.
Footpaths vary considerably in width, from three metres on the east side of the dual carriageway to barely more than a metre in places on the west side. Junctions with John Street and Adelaide Street would be very difficult to negotiate with a wheelchair.
Jagged edges of buildings and boundary walls, as well as a projecting ESB substation and random poles and trees, make the road particularly hazardous for blind people, even though the latest technology has been installed at pedestrian crossings.
Just like the West Link in Belfast, surviving parts of the urban fabric on either side of it visibly testify to the damage it has caused.
Sinn Féin's constituency office, which was once a mid-terrace building, now stands at the edge of the road with only a corner shop beside it.
"Bringing a road like this through here was insane", said shopkeeper Michael Langan. "With all of these busy streets crossing it, there are backlogs of traffic, so how does that make sense? It's really all about the bigger picture, the land being bought up out the road."
A 14-storey hotel adjoining the Carrowroe roundabout already has planning permission, while a 12-acre "prime landmark development site" adjoining the Summerhill roundabout was recently acquired for €16 million by Dublin-based developer, Treasury Holdings.
Out-of-town shopping centres, retail warehouses, office blocks and even a bowling alley are among the proposals floated by other developers for sites opened up by the dual carriageway. Landfilling is also taking place on the old N4 for other schemes.
Most of the leftover sites along the road through the town centre are triangular, due to its alignment. Hard surfaces are everywhere, with only one small space for grass. The lime trees planted along the central median of the dual carriageway are withering.
There is no sign of the promised "civic plaza" at the railway station, which is located just west of the new road. At Summerhill College, a paved area for dropping off and collecting students has been provided; temporary fencing protects them from the traffic.
Local people say the main shopping area, O'Connell Street, has been quieter since the road opened last Friday, although it has yet to be pedestrianised as planned. Certainly, most of the juggernaut trucks seem to be using the new route.
The scheme was approved by Noel Dempsey, then minister for the environment, in 2000 when it was estimated to cost €23 million, less than a third of the final bill. Few believe it alone will "solve" the town's traffic problems.