Is the M3 really necessary?

Madam, - Now that the Ashbourne bypass has opened (The Irish Times, May 26th), at any time of day it is easy to drive from Finglas…

Madam, - Now that the Ashbourne bypass has opened (The Irish Times, May 26th), at any time of day it is easy to drive from Finglas to Navan via Kentstown in about 30 minutes.

Just suppose that the M3 motorway was already built; would any right-minded motorist now pay a €2.50 toll, just to cut five minutes off a journey to or from Navan, whether the motorway went around, through or even under the Hill of Tara? The money needed to build the M3 would be put to much better use in electrifying the railways around Dublin and beyond, against the time when petrol and diesel will be €2 a litre, and more.

We still have time to change our minds about building the M3. - Yours, etc,

MICHAEL BOYLE, Butterfield Drive, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.