N17 - Knock to Collooney [design & planning underway]

They don't forget - they just don't care. The (mainly city-based) snobs that make up the Green party think that buses are for povs. The way to travel from A to B is by bike or by train. That's it. Public transport is steel wheels (train/tram) only.

OK, obviously that's hyperbole on my part. But it's not too far from the mentality.

That road is a death trap...how many more lives will lost on this governments watch ... wants to turn the west in a nature reserve... can't wait to see the back of him and those green loonies... the North West the most underfund part of the whole country... how are we suppose to attract jobs without critical infrastructure not in place

A look at the map of Irish motorways is telling. Nothing headed towards the north-west. People often cite population but Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal have a similar population to Waterford and Wexford and they have a motorway each. There’s an impression that nobody lives in the north-west. The population is actually nowhere near as sparse as some people think. Mayo: 137k Donegal: 166k Sligo: 70k Leitrim: 35k. Roscommon: 70k. That’s almost half a million people and one of the “national primary routes” serving it is a cart pass. The road from Collooney to Knock is a disgrace. People avoid making the journey if possible. Some of the most dangerous driving I’ve ever seen has been on that road with people frustrated and enraged at trying to get somewhere, taking stupid risks.

The population of Sligo town has barely increased in the last half century. In the mid 1970s it was 16.5k. Today it’s 20k. A 25% increase. The EU has recently declared the north-west a “lagging region”. The first infrastructure project expected post that declaration then gets shelved indefinitely. The poor infrastructure in the region has been cited by several companies as a reason not to locate in the area over the years. There’s multiple third level institutions churning out graduates every year and there’s nowhere for them to work.

One of the main drivers for the economic position the north-west found itself in was partition. Border areas were cut off from their natural hinterland and suffered economically. Both in the north and the south. It wasn’t a lack of people or a lack of hard work or a lack of gumption. And it’s quite clear that there is no plan to help the region catch up.

That's literally my question. I have no idea why the funding has been suspended. You guys may be right that the minister (and the party by extension) are the ones to blame here, but I don't see that confirmed as fact anywhere, and we've been through very many disproven "the greens ate my lunch" threads already at this point to the degree that I'm sceptical.

I think the N17 scheme should go ahead by the way: it's in the NDP. I don't agree with stalling it. And I don't think rail is a viable solution on this corridor either. And we appear to have ample funding available. And I think we need to spend lots of that on infrastructure.

It just feels like the "boy that cried wolf" to me, that's all.

Given its in the NDP and has been progressing well it is hard to reconcile why it would be canned like this other than ministerial interference.

Exactly, the best performing economy and our infrastructure is still well behind the continent. Feels like a lack of ambition to me. Hard to believe that a motorway was initially considered for the western corridor.

Like plenty of others here I have a lot of reservations regarding what Sinn Fein would achieve but decisions like this can only help their case for an opportunity to get into power.

You might be right, it might actually suit some of the parties to shove Ryan into the forefront again: the perfect poop umbrella for controversial decisions.

Someone else pointed out that what's going on now, and maybe indeed even with this project, is that the whole scheme goes through all the planning stages at one time, but not necessarily all the construction stages at one time. This is better than each section having to go through all the planning stages separately - which in a lot of cases, would be very inefficient.

Agree with all you said there. Local TDs have called for the same clarity in the Dail in recent days.

Its the waste that really galls me. If Eamon had no intention of ever moving to construction on this road then why spend hundreds of thousands of our money on the prep work? That money could have been used for making smaller incremental improvements over time in that case. Instead we are left with a main road in a dangerous state, with an 80kmph speed limit (which says it all really) and land owners in permanent limbo. This is the second time in 3 decades that this road has been prepped and then suspended.

I'm hearing at the meeting with local councillors, when the issue of the N15 upgrade was raised, Eamon dismissed it too and suggested by passes of all the villages along the route instead. (Another serious accident occurred on this road the other day). He also poured cold water on the Eastern Garvogue bridge and approach roads in Sligo town, which really annoyed people as its more or less shovel ready but has an objection in the courts currently. Although local TD Frank Feighan said yesterday that he had spoken to Eamon Ryan in relation to that scheme and got assurances that it will proceed as planned.

All in all a controversial visit to Sligo by the minister for bypasses. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the current weeks with pressure being put on FF and FG to get the N17 progressed.

Travel this route weekly, easily the worst section of N road in the country. It's 80kph for good reason. A cart track with road markings.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that Ryan won't be in that job for much longer. No way this is not back on the table once he is gone.

Just as a reference to the past and the Greens idea for this road. Imagine how well a single carriage way would have worked out on the N4 into sligo.

Lorna Siggins

Mon Jan 26 1998 - 00:00

"Today Collooney, tomorrow the Curlew mountains. Thanks to EU funding, some of the most scenic parts of the Dublin-Sligo road will soon vanish as swathes of motorway chew up the north-west.

This morning, Collooney village earns its "by-pass" badge as the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, opens 8.5 kilometres of dual carriageway, costing £30 million. Not everyone will be cheering, however. Though he isn't critical of the by-pass, the Green Party's Connacht-Ulster transport spokesman, Mr Wilhelm Bodewigs, believes there are better ways of spending EU structural funds.

"Of course, Collooney and Ballisodare need traffic-calming measures," says Mr Bodewigs. "I am happy with the new by-pass but a single-lane carriageway would have done the job." He believes £10 million could have been saved, which could have been put to improving public transport links."