M50 and Red Cow roundabout at heart of Brennan's traffic battle

A €600 million upgrading of the M50 would ease traffic congestion at the Red Cow roundabout, the Minister for Transport told the ardfheis.

Mr Brennan said that he was uncomfortable with one element of the Luas light railway project. "This is the fact that it crosses the edge of the Red Cow roundabout. This is the busiest interchange in the country with up to 90,000 cars a day passing through it."

The first phase of the investment, he said, would be to sort out the congestion in the roundabout. "It can begin by the end of this year and be completed by 2006. It will end the nightmare that has become the Red Cow roundabout. It will allow for free-flowing traffic. And it will dramatically reduce the number of cars crossing near the Luas."

Mr Brennan said that completing the M50 was another urgent priority. "There have been obstacles put in our way, and as a result 80,000 cars a day are caught in congestion. I am confident we have now overcome almost all the obstacles. We will complete the motorway."

Mr Brennan said that progress was being made in unclogging the traffic around the country. "By the end of this year, we will have doubled the number of quality bus corridors in Dublin from nine to 18.

"We are putting them into Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. We are planning to open the hard shoulders of motorways into cities to buses."

Mr Des Kelly, Dublin Mid-West, said that he sympathised with the Minister and the Minister of State, Dr Jim McDaid, because he had to constantly deal with people who held up progress.

"I refer, of course, to the ruin-dwellers, the snail-lovers and the tree-huggers who at all times say no to much-needed transport infrastructural improvements."

Ms Joanna Downes, Galway, welcomed the Minister's commitment to the development of bus corridors. "In Galway, approximately 13,000 cars travel on the Ballinasloe-Athenry route every morning. "On the Tuam-Claregalway route, we have 19,000 cars travelling every day. It has to be the busiest road outside of those in Cork and Dublin." She said that the corridors should be available to cars with three or four adults coming to and from work.

Asked by Mr Tom Stafford, Dublin Central, if the the Luas and Dublin port tunnel projects would be completed in time, Mr Brennan said they would.

Ms Mary White, Dublin South, welcomed Mr Brennan's statement that competition in air travel was vital. This had been proved in relation to Aer Lingus and Ryanair, she said. "I think it is important that in the restructuring jobs are secured."

Mr Cathal Crowe, Clare, said that while he lived in a rural community, it had links with urban centres of Limerick and Ennis, and he welcomed the provision of bus corridors.