Impending Meath madness

DMC

From this week's Meath Chronicle and here.

Chaos For Commuters, Residents Looming By Ann Casey

TRAFFIC chaos on the busy N3 Dublin-Navan route is being predicted early in the New Year as work gets underway on the multi-million euro Dunshaughlin Sewerage Scheme.

Proposals to re-route traffic through Ratoath village during pipe-laying work in Dunshaughlin also have been criticised by Ratoath councillor Nick Killian.

Meath Co. Council proposes re-routing traffic from Dublin to Navan from Ross Cross into Ratoath village and back to the N3 via the Fairyhouse Road. Traffic from Dublin to Navan will be re-routed through Batterstown. I'd say this is a typo. Traffic TO Dublin will turn left at Ross Cross and come out at Fairyhouse.

The move is likely to lead to delays for thousands of Meath commuters driving from Navan and other local towns to work in the city each morning and evening. The diversions will be in operation for six months, it is understood.

Colr. Killian says he is strongly opposed to the re-routing of traffic through Ratoath for the next six months. The traffic will be re-routed because of the laying of sewerage pipes in the main

street of Dunshaughlin, which is due to start in January as part of the E24 million Dunshaughlin Sewerage Scheme.

“While I welcome the E24 million investment in the Dunshaughlin Sewerage Scheme, I most certainly do not welcome its serious traffic impact on Ratoath and the other surrounding villages it will affect,” said Colr. Killian.

He said that as far back as last May, he indicated his clear opposition to any proposed re-routing of traffic from Navan to Dublin through Ratoath. “My main reason for opposing this is the simple fact that Ratoath is already a rat run for the county’s traffic, particularly the Skryne Road and Kilbride Road. Local residents are already living with thousands of cars travelling on these roads and they experience the excessive speed that some idiots drive at on what are essentially local county roads,” he said.

He pointed out that there are also huge volumes of heavy

goods traffic on the Curraha/Fairyhouse road.

Colr. Killian added that consultation had already taken place with the business and residents associations in Dunshaughlin, but Meath Co. Council has not consulted with any of the other villages that will be impacted by the proposed re-routing of traffic.

At a recent area council meeting, he voiced his complete opposition to the traffic proposals and requested that the Co. Council officials and the contractors come up with alternative plans. He suggested working from 8pm at night to 6am in the morning and weekend working.

He also called on the Co. Council to carry out a major information exercise with every household in the affected areas. He said those involved in the contract must bear responsibility and inform the entire population of the county as they all will ultimately be inconvenienced by the works.

“My main concern is for the residents that I represent in the Dunshaughlin Electoral Area who will bear the brunt of the inconvenience. It is time for imaginative work methodologies to be taken on board by the main players in these sewerage works,” he said.

The E24.03m sewerage scheme will provide a sewer network and wastewater treatment and disposal facility for the town of Dunshaughlin and villages of Kilmessan, Dunsany and Drumree.

gurramok

Its about time a by-pass was built for dunshaughlin.
I drove through there a few times in peak traffic and its a nightmare. If by-pass was there, any roadworks can happen.

Diverting the traffic is a lunatic option, the roads around ratoath cannot cope with the volumes involved, the present N3 is bulging at the seams with the traffic, how on earth are the minor roads to cope ??

Heck if they actually started to build a rail link from dublin to navan as promised, there would be hardly a traffic problem in the first place !

BeatTun

i live in ratoath / curragha and the last few months has been a complete nightmare with the pipelaying and resurfacing in ratoath village, major major s h i t trying to get home in that traffic for an area thats usually quiet enough.

and it is already a rat run for drogheda - dublin traffic etc, artics hit 60 / 70 on the main curragha road, when i say main...i mean "main".

ButcherOfNog

Originally posted by gurramok

Heck if they actually started to build a rail link from dublin to navan as promised, there would be hardly a traffic problem in the first place !

Navan is already connected to Dublin via rail, upgrading that link would be the sensible option

Bo Duke

The Trim route is already buzy as f u c k.They need the by-pass around Dunshaglin then the sewerage.This is the sensible way the this is the CO. Council we`re talking about

DMC

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
I've heard that large chunks of that line is missing and lots of the land sold off, so it not as easy to as you might think.

Not really. They could upgrade the Drogheda line, as thats been idle since the last train from the Gypsum in Kingscourt and Tara Mines last year. Its in half decent repair. They did dig up the whole line from Navan to Clonsilla in the 60's.

Slaanesh

I live in Kilmessan which means I go through Dunshaughlin on the way to Dublin. But if I'm heading in at peak times I just swing right at Dunsany over to the Trim road and then come out on the Navan road around fairyhouse cross. Although it can take a while to get out onto the navan road, it cut's the journey time by quite a bit.

When coming from Dublin and coming to the end of the duel-carriageway section of the navan road, sometimes it can be very far back. Simply take the slip-road off to Clonee and appear out ahead of all the backed up traffic. Their are quite a few scut routes that will shorten your journey time, but you will always hit large chunks of traffic no matter where you go.

Slaan.

DMC

Originally posted by Slaanesh
Their are quite a few scut routes that will shorten your journey time, but you will always hit large chunks of traffic no matter where you go.

Quite true, but the rat run that is the Ratoath Road to Skryne and Ross Cross is not my favourite alt route.