THE National Roads Authority is to spend more than £250 million on Ireland's main roads this year - including a long delayed start on the Southern Cross section of Dublin's M50 "C-ring" bypass.
Added to the estimated £241 million which is to be invested in the restoration or maintenance of county and regional roads, this means that the total spending on roads in the Republic in 1997 will come to almost £500 million.
Mr Liam Connellan, the NRA's chairman, said its roads budget was up by 13 per cent on last year's figure. "This will enable us to maintain our programme of investment which is vital to underpin economic development," he declared.
Mr Michael Tobin, chief executive of the NRA, said five major schemes would be completed during 1997 and eight new schemes would start while work continues on 10 other significant projects - including the Lee Tunnel in Cork.
In order to relieve growing congestion where the M50 currently ends at Spawell, near Tallaght, he said the authority planned to proceed with a first phase of the Southern Cross, taking it as far as Kellystown Road, Ticknock.
Tenders for the project are being advertised today and work on this section of the route is due to start before the end of 1997. In the meantime, an additional slip road will be installed to provide relief at Spawell.
However, because of legal challenges which have only been settled recently, the NRA concedes that the full C ring will not be finished until 2003. Hence the completion of the first phase will merely relocate the existing bottleneck.
Work on the second phase of the Southern Cross from Ticknock to Sandyford cannot proceed until a line is agreed for the South Eastern Motorway, which would link it to the Shankill/Bray bypass. This could take another 18 months.
Mr Tobin said the M50 was already carrying very heavy volumes of traffic - up to 60 000 vehicles per day - because of the growth in car ownership and the economy. Long before 2001, we could have a linear car park out there," he warned.
The NRA is still examining the controversial issue of tolling the M50, in the context of traffic management rather than just revenue raising. With consultants yet to be appointed to carry out a fresh study, it is unlikely to happen in 1997.
Referring to the proposed Dublin Port Tunnel, Mr Tobin said the NRA hoped that a decision would be taken by the City Council "with the greatest speed". However, it also recognised the genuine concerns" of people in Marino and Whitehall.
The five major schemes opening this year are the Northern Cross extension to Malahide Road, the N7 Portlaoise bypass, the N22 Sliabh Riach improvement in Co Kerry, and two schemes on the N25 - one at Barntown, Co Wexford, and the other at Dunkettle, Cork.
Schemes starting in 1997 include the N1 Dunleer Dundalk motorway, the N2 between Ardee and the edge of Carrickmacross, the N3 Cavan bypass, the N7 Nenagh bypass, the N11 through Glen o' the Downs, Co Wicklow, and the Blackpool bypass in Cork.
The NRA also plans to bring some short term relief to motorists travelling through Kinnegad - not by building an expensive bypass which might take years to complete, but by installing a short inner relief road to avoid the town's notorious T junction.
A network of weather monitoring stations is also being developed along the main routes to give - "real time" information both to the NRA and the Met Service.
