Major road plans put on hold due to cutbacks

MORE THAN a decade of budget allocations to begin major road schemes is expected to come to a close today, when reductions in annual funding for the National Roads Authority (NRA) are announced by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan.

For the first time since December 1999 the roads authority is not planning to match its budget allocation with early announcements of new road schemes to go to construction within 12 months.

The roads authority said its “first priority for any discretionary money in 2010 will be to carry out safety remedial works and bridge and pavement rehabilitation”. Chief executive of the NRA Fred Barry said pending today’s allocations “it may be the case that no new major schemes will start [this year]”.

Mr Barry said that in 2009 the only new road scheme to begin construction was the Castleisland bypass in Co Kerry.

The NRA has already been told to halt its motorway service areas building programme and to cease major capital outlays without the consent of Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

Last week Mr Barry told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport that, while the NRA capital budget for 2009 of €1.4 billion was “a significant amount, it was more than €300 million below the planned multi-annual Transport 21 provision”.

“We will not know our 2010 allocation until after Budget day but we expect that it will be significantly less than the 2009 level,” he said.

The NRA suspended planning on a number of schemes during the past year and expects to suspend work on further schemes in 2010 in light of the cutbacks and the new Programme for Government.

Mr Barry said the NRA would try “in as far as possible” to bring schemes that are at route selection stage to the point of identifying a preferred route before suspending work on them. However, he said that might not be possible in all cases.

Today’s budget allocation will provide for the completion of current schemes, notably the main inter-urban routes between Dublin and the cities of Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway and the M3 between Dublin and the Meath/Cavan border. All of these are due for completion in 2010.