Toll bridge operators want to retain booth barriers on West Link

It will be five years before "open tolling" can be fully implemented at Dublin's West Link bridge, representatives of National Toll Roads (NTR) will tell the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, this morning.

Mr Cullen, who has drafted new legislation to facilitate the open or barrier-free tolling, is meeting NTR to discuss congestion and traffic management plans on the M50, where daily traffic volumes have exceeded 100,000 vehicles.

The Minister has been lobbied by the Irish Road Haulage Association, the AA and even the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to take action to ease traffic congestion, particularly during the construction of a third lane, due to begin later this year.

The road works and commuting time to Dublin are expected to become issues in the Meath and Kildare by-elections which are scheduled to take place next month. The Taoiseach has acknowledged lengthy delays on the M50 as a cause of concern for workers commuting to Dublin. The M50 and the N7 route through Kildare are the State's busiest roads. Traffic volumes on the N7 have exceeded 70,000 vehicles a day.

However, NTR has said any changeover to "open tolling" would require legislation to penalise fare evaders to be in place first. The company would also need about 75 to 80 per cent of its customers to be account holders, most likely paying toll charges in advance through the company's Eazy-Pass system.

Even if that is achieved, the toll company is likely to need one or perhaps two cash lanes in each direction, so a complete removal of the current toll booth barriers is unlikely.

The billion euro upgrade of the motorway is set to begin with the building of a third lane in each direction on the section of the M50 between the N7, Red Cow interchange, and the N4 or West Link interchange.