I wish to share my time with Senators Chambers and Connor.
Adjournment Matters. - Road Network.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the Minister of State and I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for allowing me to raise this matter. I tabled this motion to have the N5 national primary route included in the national development plan, the section of the N5 from Longford to Charlestown through County Roscommon upgraded during the lifetime of the national development plan and the necessary funds provided in the plan. I do not expect to get a conclusive response from the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, tonight.
The purpose of putting this motion before the House is to advance the case that is being put forward in counties Longford, Roscommon and Mayo to have the N5 national primary route brought up to a standard that will accommodate traffic through that section of the northwest over the next 20 to 30 years. The present national primary route, the N5, which travels from Longford into Termonbarry, on to Strokestown, Tulsk, Ballinagar, Frenchpark, Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown is the most inadequate and poorest national primary route. It is expected to carry six million tonnes of goods annually, much of which arrives at its destination in the east coast in a damaged state.
The councils of Roscommon, Longford and Mayo have put this case forward, as have many others including the hauliers' association and all of the interest groups such as development groups and chambers of commerce that have been involved. This road artery into the northwest is hampering the opportunity for people to bring forward commercially viable projects. As long as this road remains in its current state then this part of Ireland will not develop. Neither will it be in a position to avail of the opportunities that are presented to it under the auspices of Objective One status or the Shannon rural renewal scheme that covers 45 miles of this road. In fact 45 miles of this road runs through the constituency which I represent and the other 15 miles run through County Mayo. It is a 60 mile stretch of road that is in question and it is a vital artery.
Discussions are taking place on this matter at a very high level, including the involvement of the Taoiseach. I am responding to representations made to me and my colleagues at many public meetings. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, to report back from this debate in Seanad Éireann that there is a concentrated and determined attempt to have this road upgraded. It is our intention that the decision taken in this House will support the local request that this road be brought to a standard that is appropriate to the opportunities that are presented.
Counties Longford, Mayo and Roscommon will be unable to develop otherwise. No industrialist will pass the Shannon at that point if they have to travel on the N5 as it is today. It is a danger to the public, particularly in connection with the transportation of goods, which has resulted in countless accidents, some of them fatal. This is the start of a campaign to seek that this road becomes part of the national development plan, with funding to ensure it is brought to an appropriate standard between now and 2006-2007.
I wish to thank Senator Finneran for giving me a portion of his time to contribute to this debate. I live beside a village which the N5 passes through, by consent and the admission of the National Roads Authority the most deficient section of national primary road in the country. I refer to the 56 km section in Roscommon from Termonbarry to Carracastle on the Mayo border. I have made the point previously, in Roscommon County Council and elsewhere, that the road has not changed since 1901 apart from currently having a bitumen or tarred surface. The alignment and sight distance is the same along the 56 km stretch, apart from minor deviations, as when it was constructed for horse-drawn vehicles in the mid-19th century. The case for upgrading it is indisputable.
I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, to explain why the National Roads Authority in its 1998 needs study categorised this road in phases three and four, while every other national primary road and almost every national secondary road is put in phases one and two. A phase one or two designation implies that the road should be finished before 2006, with up to phase three being completed by 2010. Phase four needs are projected as far as 2019. This road cannot wait. The National Roads Authority informed me that the average daily traffic flow through County Roscommon is some 2,700 vehicles. That includes 24% of heavy goods vehicles indicating that it is a main economic artery. Heavy goods traffic causes the greatest problems. Overtaking is impossible due to sight distance and the inadequacy of the lane width. The designation of this road in the needs study, especially in County Roscommon, has to be changed from phase three and four needs. It is not acceptable to suggest it would not be addressed until between 2010 and 2019.
The Government proposed, in perhaps its second national development plan, the building of strategic transport corridors to all major ports and airports. Many people have made fun of Knock Airport, and Senator Chambers may be the best man to make a case for it, but it is a major airport and it neither has, nor is it promised for many years, a strategic corridor if this needs study report is not changed. We appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, to go back to the Government and bring the influence of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to bear on the National Roads Authority to change the timetable for the N5 upgrading.
I thank Senator Finneran for sharing his time. I support the motion on the national primary route. If the £6 million national roads investment fund for this year does not make provision for addressing the N5, under the national development plan or BMW funding, it will undo much of the industrial gain and job creation in the area. The large companies who export all their produce on that circuit in County Mayo and a substantial part of County Roscommon will be left without a major primary route. I believe a strong case has been made by the people of counties Mayo and Roscommon. The county councils are at one in this case. I understand that the Government and the Taoiseach are taking a particular interest in it.
I believe there is a need to ring-fence some of the national roads money for this project. That can be done and must be done. This year when there is planning for work to take place in Roscommon and the National Roads Authority has been in discussions with Senator Finneran, the county council, other Senators and elected representatives, there is a need to continue the investment on an annual basis so that progress can be made on a road that has been left behind relative to any other national arteries. We must have balance in dealing with peripheral areas in terms of the Government's concern and investment. It is fundamentally important that we provide funding within the National Roads Authority in a proper ring-fenced way to deal with this and forget about the better local government needs programme that was drawn up in 1987 which does not give due regard to that need.
I thank the Senator for raising this matter in the House and for giving me the opportunity to respond. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, is unable to be in the House this evening to respond and he has asked me to do so on his behalf.
The national development plan provides for a total investment in the national road network of £4.7 billion over the period 2000-06 and sets out a strategic framework for the improvement and maintenance of the network over that period. To put this in context, we will spend about £2 million a day on national roads over the plan period. The NDP provides for significant improvements to be carried out on major national primary routes, including the N4 and the N5, some of which are already under way. In 2001, the National Roads Authority has allocated a total of 8.3 million to local authorities in respect of projects on the N5 in Counties Longford, Mayo and Roscommon, and in recent years the N4 has been significantly upgraded, to the benefit of the persons travelling the route to Castlebar, through projects such as the Mullingar bypass, the Longford bypass and the Lucan-Kilcock motorway. Most of the planned improvements on the N4 will be completed or well advanced in planning by the end of the current national development plan
The NRA, in conjunction with the relevant local authorities, is pursuing the detailed programming of the work involved and will determine appropriate road types in that context based on the roads needs study, current and projected traffic growth and the national spatial strategy. The objective will be to ensure the N5 is developed to a standard which will accommodate projected traffic growth over the next 20 years. Most of the planned improvements will be completed or well advanced in planning by the end of the NDP period. While there is no proposal at this stage to amend the provisions of the NDP, the need for the development of the new routes to augment those mentioned in the plan, including the N5, are being kept under constant review and the views expressed in the course of this debate will be brought to the attention of the NRA. Where the need for a new route is established, funding will be provided for the advance planning and design of the route in the plan period with a view to bringing the project to fruition within an appropriate timeframe.
I thank the Minister of State. His final paragraphs express the views hoped for, from which we can build.