Madam, - "At the Westlink, southbound traffic is backed up to beyond the Ballymun exit." The AA Roadwatch report tells us that, despite the widened toll bridge, the delays there are as bad as ever. Of course, this was predictable: the bottleneck was due to the inadequate number of tool booths, and it still is.
According to press reports, negotiations are now in progress with the owner/operator of the toll bridge about funding the widening of the M50 to three lanes along with flyovers at the Red Cow and elsewhere.
One condition of any such agreement must surely be the provision of more toll booths at Westlink. Otherwise, the widening of the M50 will be just as unsuccessful as the widening of the toll bridge has proved to be.
If the toll company can't accept this, let them try an experiment: leave the toll gates open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. any weekday and count the number of vehicles that go through.
I suspect that the increased flow will indicate that there is a clear financial justification for the extra toll booths that are so urgently needed there. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL BOYLE, Butterfield Drive, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.