MORE THAN €2 million has been spent on surveying and designs for a road scheme that is now shelved indefinitely in Co Kerry.
The 21km section along the N22 between Farranfore and Killarney was to have been completed by 2009 when the preliminary scheme was first unveiled in 2004 and the estimated cost of construction was €90 million at the time.
The road from north of Farranfore village was to replace the existing N22 where the growth of one-off housing and narrow carriageway has impeded traffic. The new section was to link up with improvements already carried out on the Tralee side.
Now shelved by the National Roads Authority on the instructions of Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar in August, councillors have been told that the land along the route will have to remain sterilised. Some €2.7 million has been spent on the “design, surveying, assessment, ground investigations”, according to a council report.
The information released at the request of Independent Kerry councillor Brendan Cronin has drawn an angry response from councillors. “Businesses have expanded in anticipation of this scheme. It is horrific that that amount of money can be spent and that we are no further on than 2004,” Cllr Michael Gleeson said.
His colleague Danny Healy-Rae said it was “hard to stomach that amount of money spent on a no-road”.
According to council engineers, a number of refinements to the preferred route corridor are being examined and the route is to be finalised later this year.