I propose to take Questions Nos. 185, 186 and 187 together.
Consulting engineers have been appointed by the Northern Ireland Roads Service, acting on behalf of a joint North-South Project Board, to prepare a feasibility report on Alternative Road Options for the Newry Dundalk cross-Border Route. The work is being carried out in two phases. The first phase, completed in July 1996, examined a number of options, including the upgrading of the existing road, and an interim report identified three possible routes as warranting further examination. Those route options were the subject of public consultation aimed at eliciting the preliminary views of the public on the major issues they see as important on the corridors identified. This exercise was not part of, and does not prejudice, the normal statutory process to which any emerging scheme will be subjected.
The second phase is still under way. This is examining and identifying options in greater detail and it is anticipated that the study will culminate in the recommendation of a route corridor for further detailed investigation. The study report, which will be accompanied by 1:2,500 scale maps of the routes and more detailed, 1:500 scale, maps at appropriate locations, mainly junctions, will, in the event of a scheme proceeding, be published. Any such scheme will be subject to the normal statutory processes to both jurisdictions.
The capacity of the Newry by-pass is not a consideration in the study. The northern limit of the study area is the new terminal roundabout on the southern end of the Newry by-pass at Cloghoge.