Motorists on Drogheda bypass may be tolled from next year

Motorists travelling between Dublin and Belfast may be tolled from next year.

Motorists travelling between Dublin and Belfast may be tolled from next year.

Drivers using the Drogheda bypass will have to pay if the National Road Authority is given permission for toll stations.

The main toll plaza will be near Gormanston, and car-users travelling north or south will have to pay €1.15 (91p) while heavy goods vehicles will incur a minimum toll of €2.05 (£1.61).

The 21km stretch of motorway will join the existing Balbriggan and Dunleer bypasses and form part of the M1.

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It will cost in the region of £143 million to complete and will bring badly needed relief to congested Drogheda, now home to an ever-growing number of commuters.

As well as the main toll booth, it is also proposed to put two additional tolls on the approach roads to the Donore Road interchange, which will be one of the main exit/entry points to Drogheda.

In its explanatory statement accompanying the scheme, the NRA says the scheme will cost £7.7 million to put in place, with annual operating costs of £2.2 million.

However, according to current traffic count figures, the Gormanston toll plaza will take in approximately £14,378 a day at the main booth, based on an estimated average of 15,800 vehicles a day using it.

"I want to see towns like Drogheda gain from such tolling schemes and that some of the money be directed towards the town's infrastructure," said the Drogheda Mayor, Mr James Mulroy.

Meanwhile, Meath County Council confirmed it would be represented at the oral hearing on August 27th into the proposed tolling of the M4 Kinnegad-Enfield road.

Meath county councillors earlier this year objected to the scheme, saying that with three of the four national routes linking Dublin to the north and west under consideration for toll booths, up to £1,000 a year could be added to the cost of motoring for local residents.