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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Mar 1996

Vol. 463 No. 4

Written Answers. - Tolling of Ring Road.

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

108 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment his views on the tolling of the Dublin C Ring Road. [6670/96]

I refer to the comprehensive reply to Questions Nos. 4, 59 and 182 of 7 November 1995 in which I outlined in some detail the statutory position governing the tolling of roads, including the powers and responsibilities of the different bodies involved; the procedures which must be followed before tolls can be introduced on any route; the extent of public consultation involved; and my quasi-judicial role in reaching a decision on any individual toll proposals. In that reply, I also outlined the guidelines on the tolling of national roads set out in the National Development Plan, 1994-1999 which are similar to those adopted by successive Governments since 1985.

The National Development Plan envisaged the development of toll proposals to generate a sum of up to £100 million to be used to accelerate the development of the national road network. The plan specifically indicated that the assessment of all toll proposals would have regard to the diversion of traffic likely to be caused by tolling; this would have to include consideration of the types of traffic likely to be diverted, the probable impact on adjacent residential areas and the expected additional road construction-maintenance costs arising from the diversion.

The Dublin C Ring will operate as a by-pass of Dublin for North-South traffic and will also function as a distributor route for Dublin traffic. With unrestricted access, traffic volumes could quickly reach capacity levels. With this in mind, the final report of the Dublin Transportation Initiative specifically identified road user charging as one of the measures which could be considered to control the growth in traffic on the route and obviate the need for heavy additional investment in expanding capacity.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is clear there is a significant level of opposition to any proposals to impose tolls on the C Ring in its present incomplete condition and I have received a considerable level of correspondence from groups representing motorists, from residents' organisations and from individuals on the subject. Apart from the additional expense for individual motorists, there is significant concern that the imposition of tolls could divert large volumes of traffic away from the motorway on to the surrounding network, resulting in a detrimental environmental impact and loss of residential amenity, and giving rise to demands for additional road construction and maintenance costs at other locations. These concerns have considerable validity and they would bear heavily on any decision I might be called on to make should the NRA proceed with proposals for tolling the C Ring.
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