Court cases `could jeopardise' roads plan

The seven-year, £4.7 billion, national roads section of the National Development Plan could be jeopardised by court cases taken against individual schemes, the chairman of the National Roads Authority, Mr Liam Connellan, said yesterday.

After he told the Cork Chamber of Commerce that the State had the money and the ability to relegate traffic congestion on national roads "to the domain of an unhappy memory", Mr Connellan conceded that court challenges could destroy the timescale for road building. He made his remarks as two major road schemes - the South Eastern Motorway and the upgrading of parts of the N11 - were due to come before the Supreme Court for mention over the coming days. A number of other schemes involving national roads between Dublin and other major centres are also delayed. These include the Dublin Port Tunnel, the Southern Cross Motorway and the Kildare by-pass.

However, Mr Connellan said he was satisfied the State had the technical expertise and the labour force to complete the programme within the seven-year period.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said the Government's sub-committee on infrastructure may recommend setting up a new division of the High Court as well as new divisions of An Bord Pleanala envisaged under the new Planning Bill, to tackle the problem.

The Supreme Court is considering a number of appeals on behalf of anti-roads protesters against Wicklow County Council's plans for the £22 million road-widening scheme.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has set Monday next for a hearing of an appeal against the South Eastern Motorway. Developers with property in the vicinity of the planned motorway claim £500,000 worth of development projects hinge on the project going ahead immediately.