A GAA football club is among 139 objectors to a proposed 46.2 km dual-carriageway between Counties Kildare and Carlow, a Bord Pleanála oral hearing was told in Carlow yesterday.
The proposed stretch of roadway would run from Kilcullen, Co Kildare, to Powerstown, Co Carlow.
The hearing opened yesterday before chairman Mr Dom Hegarty. He will hear objections relating to the acquisition by way of compulsory purchase order (CPO) of lands in Kildare and Carlow.
The estimated cost of the road project is €433 million, at 2003 values, with expenditure spread over the period from 2001 to 2008.
The bulk of the objectors are private landholders, many of whom were legally represented at yesterday's hearing held in the Lord Beagnal Inn in Leighlinbridge.
Carlow solicitor Mr Frank Lanigan, appearing for Tinryland Gaelic Football Club (the 2003 Carlow GAA Club of the Year), said there would be seven witnesses to address the hearing on Tuesday next.
These are expected to include Mr M.J. Nolan TD (FF), Senator Feargal Browne (FG), and two representatives from the Tinryland GAA club.
The oral hearing, which is expected to last for up to two weeks, is concerned with a section of the N9-N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme.
Mr Hegarty outlined the full list of objectors at the outset of yesterday's hearing.
Mr Esmonde Keane SC, for Kildare County Council, said the local authority is promoting the road scheme and had been empowered to act also on behalf of Carlow County Council.
The hearing was told that Kildare County Council is seeking to build a new 46.2km dual-carriageway. The scheme is also to include a new 11.2 km single-carriage road, connecting Athy, Co Kildare, at the western end to the new dual carriageway to the existing N9 just north of Timolin, Co Kildare, at the eastern end.
The proposed new dual-carriageway largely follows the corridor of the existing N9 between Kilcullen and Prumblestown, Co Kildare, and then continues around the east side of Carlow town before rejoining the existing N9 at Powerstown, some six miles south of Carlow town in the Kilkenny direction.
The purpose of the proposed road scheme is to provide a high-quality dual-carriageway road for the transport of people and goods, in safety and comfort, in accordance with national and local objectives to meet the aspirations of the National Development Plan 2000-2006.
The local authority contends the road scheme is especially required to overcome the inadequacies of the existing road network in facilitating long-distance, inter-urban travel.
Mr Garry P. Smyth, chartered engineer and project director for the N9 Kilcullen to Powerstown section of the road scheme, said tests showed that an eastern bypass of Carlow town had advantages in traffic terms.