After years of consultation, a detailed route selection report and an extensive oral hearing, it's time to build the M3 motorway, writes Kevin Kernan
The ongoing controversy about the proposed M3 (Clonee to Kells) motorway is but the latest example of how minority pressure groups, often very late in the day, seek to defy and misrepresent the very elaborate consultative process that applies to major infrastructural projects.
In the end, the real loser can only be the north Leinster-Border region whose economic wellbeing is frustrated.
Some observers of the current debate may be surprised at the sheer extent and transparency of the consultation process that underpins this project. This is the record:
A comprehensive consultation process, stretching over a four-year period, was held and was attended by more than 4,000 people;
A detailed route selection report was produced, followed by a comprehensive environmental impact statement;
An extensive oral hearing was held over a three-month period;
A strict multicriteria approach was adopted for the final route selection from an initial 10 possible routes, ensuring an appropriate balance of social, economic and environmental issues, including archaeology;
An Bord Pleanála granted full approval for the chosen route, following unprecedented public and professional scrutiny, and declared that the proposed route "would be in accordance with proper planning and sustainable development of the area and would not have significant adverse effects on the environment".
It is also interesting to note that many of those now opposing the M3 scheme made no input to the consultation process over that four-year period.
It should also be noted that despite there being an eight-week statutory period to seek judicial review of the board's decision, no submission was made to the courts by any of those now protesting.
I would also like to take issue with some of the specific arguments being advanced by objectors to the motorway plan. Although the road will be used by commuters to and from the Greater Dublin Area, that is not its primary function.
The proposed motorway is a vital element in our national transport infrastructure and the primary purpose of the M3 is to provide vitally needed access to and from the north-west region.
Without this motorway, balanced regional development in the context of the northwest, mideast and Border regions will be impossible, and the growth pressure on Dublin will continue.
Nor does a Navan-Dublin rail corridor represent a viable alternative. It has been suggested by several objectors that the construction and operation of a new rail line between Dublin and Navan will resolve the transportation problem.
The reality is that the Dublin-Navan corridor requires a motorway and a modern rail service to generate necessary social and economic development and to provide an acceptable environment for those who live and work there. It is not a case of either road or rail.
While the benefits of the rail line to the commuting public would be significant, it would not lead to a major reduction in road capacity requirements.
Suggestions that the matter can be resolved by merely providing a number of local bypasses are completely flawed. The links between these bypasses would be congested constantly and would be extremely unsafe, unless major improvements were implemented throughout. Such improvements would require upgrading to dual carriageway standard, which is already required to cater for existing traffic.
As well as displacing a great number of residents and incurring major compensation, the design, consultation and construction process would inevitably be contentious, long drawn out and expensive, ultimately resulting in a sub-standard solution and a substandard environment for those living along the "upgraded route".
An upgraded N3 route would therefore have a similar footprint to the proposed motorway, but largely along the existing alignment.
This would cause major disruption during the prolonged construction period and a greatly disrupted environment for many who currently reside in proximity to the required footprint for an upgraded N3.
It is the considered view therefore of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland that the M3 motorway should now proceed without delay, in accordance with the approval granted by An Bord Pleanála.
The need for the scheme has been clearly established, in terms of safety, economic and social benefits, and all statutory procedures have been fully complied with, including those relating to the assessment of impacts on the environment through which the chosen route will pass.
The scheme is part of the National Development Plan, the National Spatial Strategy and the Meath County Development Plan. It is time to get on with the job.
Kevin Kernan is director general of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland