Drogheda exhibits all the contradictions of a town in flux. It is a traffic bottleneck with an alarming lack of parking facilities. Yet the new but as yet unopened Haymarket Bridge over the Boyne and partially built multi-storey car park on the north quay serve as reminders that the town is on the brink of far-reaching change.

While the town's appearance still owes much to its industrial and medieval past, snazzy modern buildings like the new glazed landmark office and retail units on the corner of Shop Street and Dyer Street give an inkling of future transformation. Everywhere you look there are small pockets of redevelopment in progress, yet also everywhere are signs that Drogheda has for too long received the short straw in terms of infrastructural funding.

Although strategically located on the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor, unlike nearby Dundalk, Drogheda has had no TDs in Government for many years. And as one local pointed out, "if you are not at the main table, it is hard to negotiate".

No organisation has its headquarters in Drogheda, and there has been an over-reliance on small-scale manufacturing catering to a local market.

With the population predicted to explode to over 60,000 by 2010, twice its current number, there is a drive underway by certain local bodies, including Drogheda Chamber of Commerce, to prepare the town for the impending growth.

They commissioned a report by economist Peter Bacon - in association with Fergal McCabe, the architect and town planner - which provides a framework for development. Entitled Economic & Spatial Development Study of Drogheda and its Environs, it details the town's current strengths and weaknesses.

The potential for future development is considerable. The industrial areas to the west of the town are ideally located for access to the £87 million (€110m) M1 by-pass, which is currently under construction. The open lands around the three junctions of the motorway are ripe for development and there are plans for the Dublin-Belfast rail line, which has dual capacity, to be upgraded to a dedicated commuter line.

The town has a young population and a port with expanded freight access. The new treatment works can accommodate a population of approximately 67,000 people, with potential expansion to cater for 100,000. Despite these advantages, Drogheda's failure to forge a strong identity has stymied growth. According to Bacon's report, "it is unclear whether Drogheda is a significant sub centre to Dublin, an independent large town on the Dublin/ Belfast corridor, or the second town in Louth or Meath. Though identified as a `development centre' in the SPGGDA, there is little further discussion or resolution of its role in the region."

The report points to "pockets of dereliction" in the town and on the Dublin-Belfast road, and the lack of a leading sector or firm, a poor services sector and a tourism potential that remains largely unexploited. FF Councillor Sean Collins who was on the steering committee of the development study - which also included representatives from Drogheda Chamber of Commerce, Drogheda Partnership, Chamber of Trade, Drogheda on the Boyne tourism and the IDA - estimates there are 2,400 houses currently being built around the town.

He believes that Drogheda will have to become an inclusive town. "We can't dig our heels in. We have to be welcoming and I'd like to think we are. There have been big changes, although the new major interceptor sewer may not have been big enough, and may have to be expanded."

One of the largest housing schemes to date is the 750-unit Grange Rath built by Shannon Homes on the Dublin Road, two miles south of the town. A self-contained village style development, it will include a neighbourhood shopping centre, leisure centre, all-weather football pitch, hotel and 25 acres of open space.

For a commuter town within an hour's drive of Dublin, prices in Drogheda are still relatively low. The first phase of 50 houses at Grange Rath had pre-construction prices starting at £135,000 (€171,4150). The majority of Dublin buyers are looking for starter homes, but there is also a growing market for those looking to trade up to a bigger home at prices more affordable than Dublin.

Although well served with primary and secondary schools, the town has been identified as a black spot for early school leaving; however, with the help of various initiatives, sources say the town is "slowly winning the battle".

The town's future economic prosperity will depend on its ability to break with its industrial past and adapt to current market needs. In its heyday, its thriving mills and shoe factories meant there was little unemployment, but the 1970s> brought with it cheap imports and decline.

While unemployment has dropped in recent years, the town has up to now been largely bypassed by high-tech and new economy industries. This has left a pool of locals with redundant skills and pockets of relative deprivation, particularly on the north side.

The report recommends the creation of hi-tech jobs, the establishment of a third-level college and a new tourism drive "to give medieval Drogheda back to the people". An image overhaul is also suggested to attract investment and people to the town by marketing it as "an attractive small-town alternative to Dublin".

It also recommends that "the Drogheda authorities and their counterparts in Louth and Meath" devise a strategy to share the financing, administration and marketing of projects and the development of public/ private partnership arrangements.

Much commercial redevelopment in the town is focused around the river, particularly along the North Quay. The Haymarket retail, office and residential development which spans either side of the new bridge has given the South Quay a much-needed boost - but it is still riddled with dereliction and blots on the landscape like the old Oil Cake factory which lies in ruins.

The Haymarket Bridge over the Boyne, its new retail, residential and commercial components and the 800-car multi-storey car park are the result of a public/private partnership between Drogheda Corporation and Jons Civil Engineering company.

Some have complained that the half-built car park is already obscuring part of the view of the town from the North Quays. But others believe the new car park will be a godsend, as the town has been losing retail custom to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, with locals opting to make the 50-minute journey there rather than brave the parking mayhem.

"Nobody owns a view," says Councillor Collins, who believes local man John Pentony should be commended for his involvement.

"He put his money where his mouth is and history will be kind to him. The bridge and carpark are badly needed." A traffic study commissioned in 1994 pinpointed the need for a new bridge in the centre of town, "but it didn't happen until Pentony came forward".

Drogheda's rich archaeological and historical heritage may be one key to unlocking the area's full potential, but it has stalled the progress of a number of large commercial developments.

A dig began in 1998 on the site of the proposed massive new shopping centre by developers Parolen Ltd which fronts Laurence Street, Peter Street, William Street and Palace Street.

Donald Murphy whose firm, ACS, is involved in this excavation says that so far, findings have included a medieval house and wine tavern and a number of kilns. His company has also come to the end of an eight month excavation on a site on Dyer Street, where it found part of the 12th-century quay.