BUSINESS LEADERS in Cork have called for preference to be given to upgrading the road from Cork city to the harbour area after an assessment confirmed such an improvement would be a catalyst for development that could lead to thousands of jobs on Leeside.
Consultants Indecon were hired by Cork Chamber to look at the benefits of upgrading the 13km-roadway from Cork city to Ringaskiddy from a single carriage to dual carriageway. Their study demonstrated that it could realise a net economic return of €135 million.
Indecon’s divisional director, William Batt, said the upgrade had been costed some years back at €230 million including land acquisition. But Indecon believed the upgrade could now be done for €163 million, based on 2009 land prices and falling construction costs.
The benefits of the upgrade, which would create 800 jobs during construction, would be felt in improved connectivity and reduced journey times and costs in the area along an improved capacity to serve the key industrial cluster of pharmachem multinationals in Ringaskiddy.
The improvement would also help improve the competitiveness of the Cork region through facilitating the development of Port of Cork operations at Ringaskiddy, which would allow the port achieve its full trade capacity in line with its 20-year development plan, Mr Batt said.
According to the Indecon study, improvements to the N28 would provide a catalyst for further foreign direct investment benefits in the Ringaskiddy area involving an estimated 1,100 additional highvalue jobs, which in turn would generate an extra €97 million a year in wages.
The study also found that failure to upgrade the N28 would mean the Port of Cork would only be able to achieve half of its 2030 potential. This would mean a loss of the value of trade through the port of €3.8 billion per annum, said Mr Batt.
Aside from assisting development of tourism by improving access for visitors arriving on cruise liners and ferries at Ringaskiddy, there would also be environmental benefits through reduced journey times and CO2 emissions, the study found.
Cork Chamber president Ger O’Mahoney said the study clearly showed that failure to upgrade the N28 would have severe competitive and economic implications for the region – from the probable damage to external connectivity through the Port of Cork.
Mr O’Mahoney urged Government to engage with all the parties such as the Port of Cork, Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the National Roads Authority to secure funding as a matter of urgency to deliver “this vital piece of strategic infrastructure”.
Cork county manager Martin Riordan backed the call for a road upgrade and pointed out there were 3,000 people working in pharmachem firms in Ringaskiddy and those firms needed good connectivity within Ireland and with the larger international market.
Industrial Development Authority (IDA) regional manager Ray O’Connor said Ringaskiddy was a strategic site nationally for the authority. The IDA owns a large land bank there and while it had good infrastructure in terms of water, power and telecommunications, the road needs an upgrade to attract further investment
The call for an upgrade of the N28 was also backed by Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating who said the Indecon study clearly confirmed that an improvement to the route was a key requirement for the development of new port facilities in Ringaskiddy.