Sir, - The current policy of forcing farmers to sell lands for roads at "a-one-size-fits-all", knock-down price amounts to a forced subsidy for roads. One of the most basic principles of economics is that subsidies will cause goods to be produced in greater quantities than the market would otherwise provide. Having too many roads is not like having too many silk blouses - too many roads is too much of what is otherwise a necessary evil. Worse, roads are the prime example of what may be regarded as the Field of Dreams Principle: if you build it they will come.
Unnecessary road-building creates urban sprawl which generates the traffic to fill the road and creates demand for further road-building.
The National Roads Authority is currently planning to "bypass" the village of Moycullen on the Galway-Clifden Road. This bypass will drive a 60-m.p.h. road through the village boundaries, cutting off the village hinterlands and creating a serious safety hazard for children going to and from school.
It passes dangerously close to National Heritage Areas, protected wildlife habitats, and internationally famous angling waters. Its construction will damage important underground streams which feed Galway's drinking water. It will be an eyesore and scupper the area's growing tourist industry. All this will shave only seconds off the journey from Galway to Clifden.
Why is the road being built? We are told it is to handle the increased volume of traffic in 20 years' time. Aside from the fact that anyone who claims to know what will happen in 20 years' time should be answering the phone for Psychics Live, a cursory glance at the condition of the local road system will convince you that the Irish road authorities are incapable of handling routine maintenance, let alone planning a generation ahead! It is clear that our bypass is being planned solely because the money is there.
If the IFA succeeds in getting improved compensation for its members, it will bring the cost of road-building closer to the true costs - not only inconvenience to landholders but also increased congestion, pollution and urban sprawl. The necessary roads will still be constructed, but less money will be available for potentially damaging frills. The farmers will have done the State some service. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Terrence McDonough, Department of Economics, NUI, Galway, Chairperson, Moycullen Bypass Action Committee, Moycullen, Co Galway.