A number of Louth county councillors have claimed that it would cost just an additional €200,000 for the National Roads Authority to install central median crash barriers on the M1 that would be capable of containing the impact of a ten-tonne vehicle, writes Elaine Keogh
However the authority has said that a normal containment barrier, the N2, which is designed to withstand a 1.5 tonnes impact such as from a family car, is satisfactory for the M1 motorway and is spending €1.6 million on fitting them.
Louth county councillors were strongly critical of the NRA for not specifying the higher specification barrier, the H1, earlier this week.
The councillors were handed a report on the barriers from the county manager Martina Moloney.
In it she confirmed that the NRA has already installed the H1 barriers on the Drogheda by-pass. The NRA told her that was because the lowest tender for the contract had proposed it.
Cllr Terry Brennan, who first raised this issue eight years ago, said that on a major route such as the main Dublin-Belfast road where over 50 per cent of traffic is made up of heavy goods, "it is a basic necessity that the high containment barrier is used."
However, the NRA has advised that the N2 design standard barrier is to be fitted on the motorway in Louth and on all future roads and according to the county manager, "the responsibility for setting standards rests with the NRA and they are satisfied it complies with European standards and is appropriate."
Cllr Declan Breathnach (FF) said the difference in price between the two designs was approximately €200,000 "and it is very small in terms of the cost of developing a motorway." The NRA has said that it expects the barriers to be installed before it awards the contract for the Dundalk Western Bypass motorway which is due to begin construction next year.
Cllr Brennan also asked who would be responsible if a school bus goes through the central reservation in six months' time, adding: "this is not consensus, but a gun put to our heads."
