Motorists on Dublin's M50 will be paying tolls until at least 2035, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
He also ruled out lifting the barriers at the Westlink toll bridge during ongoing upgrade works - which is due for completion by the third quarter of 2008 at a cost of around €1 billion.
Costs for phase one and two; upgrading the Westlink and the buy-out of National Toll Roads' (NTR) contract for managing the M50 - due to run to 2020 - would be met by a new barrier-free toll point on the route operating from 2008 until 2035.
Negotiations with NTR on the new regime had been ended because of concerns about breaking EU procurement rules and the contract had been put out to tender with interest shown from six companies.
Answering Dail questions from Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte, Mr Ahern said the toll bridge would be acquired by the State for a cost based on the measured level of traffic in the 12 months preceding the transfer of ownership plus an estimated €45 million per year until 2020.
The State would assume ownership of the bridge in the third quarter of 2008 at which time tolling would be removed, he added.
The Taoiseach also rejected Mr Rabbitte's proposal to lift the barriers at the Westlink toll plaza during the upgrade of the route from three to four lanes. He said experts had advised him that it would be a "disaster" to lift the barriers because it would cause tailbacks at intersections making the "entire M50 unworkable".
Mr Rabbitte responded saying Mr Ahern was "sheltering behind the advice of engineers and others who have contributed their fair share to the mess in the first place".
"This is going to be an unmitigated disaster during the upgrading of the M50." Motorists are experiencing a "daily hell ... especially the blockage on the Westlink bridge," he added.
Green Party Transport spokeman, Eamon Ryan, said: "It is absolute madness for the Government to be considering spending €600 million on the buyout of the NTR concession and at the same time to be considering the introduction of a single new toll point on the exact same spot."
He said even after the widening programme on the M50 is finished "the National Roads Authority is projecting that the road will be gridlocked." Mr Ryan said the only way the M50 could be successful is with a"variable tolling system along the entire road, which would be designed to manage traffic demand rather than to raise revenue. Electronic tolling gantries should be placed on the outer approach roads to the motorway and the toll would be set at zero if traffic was freeflowing."
Mr Rabbitte also noted that a senior Government official said that when the Dublin Port Tunnel opens it will lead to 2,200 extra trucks on the M50 per day - the equivalent of 6,600 cars or "one year's additional traffic".
It was announced yesterday that the tunnel would open on December 20 th.
When it was built, the M50 was intended as an orbital route and Mr Ahrn noted that at the time of construction it was feared it would be a "white elephant". Mr Rabbitte noted that road was a distributor road and questioned whether it was now Government policy to place toll son such roads.
Mr Ahern also rejected Mr Rabitte's suggestion that the "negligent deal" which gave NTR the contract to run the toll bridge in 1987 should be investigated.