Inquiry is told of intolerable traffic congestion

Traffic congestion in south Co Dublin is so intolerable as to threaten the economic well-being of the State, the public inquiry into the proposed South Eastern Motorway has been told. Mr Michael Noonan, senior design engineer with engineering consultants M.C. O'Sullivan, said traffic in Dun Laoghaire-Rath down was becoming critical, with most routes operating over design capacity and regular congestion, especially at peak times.

The benefits of the new motorway, part of Dublin's planned Cring, would be to facilitate traffic to bypass the city, while improvements to the road network would assist traffic flows between Ticknock and Shankill, he said.

Mr N.C. Chadwick of consultants Steer Davies Gleave said as principal modeller responsible for traffic predictions in the Dublin Transport Initiative strategy, he was convinced of the need for the C-ring. However, the inquiry was also told that the Environmental Impact Statement associated with the motorway said it would cause disruption to flora and fauna as well as archaeological sites and existing structures.

Mr Thomas Gibson, senior planner with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and project leader on the preparation of the EIS, said visual obstruction caused by the motorway would be severe in the case of 200 dwellings. Vibration would be less than that caused by existing road surfaces and noise-reduction measures would be proposed where levels exceeded 68 dB (A).

The principal rivers affected would be the Carrickmines and Shanganagh system. He acknowledged a "direct loss of sections of the river habitat through culverting . . . and possible deterioration in water quality in river systems due to the input of pollutants from building activities."

Mr Gibson also acknowledged that without "ameliorative measures", the construction of the motorway "may lead to the local extinction of otters, dippers and kingfishers". While two orchid species were found in the Wyatt ville area, no plant species protected under the 1976 Wildlife Act would be affected by the scheme.

A total of 3,800 trees and 5.6 km of hedgerows are to be removed during construction, while there are 59 structures of significance close to the route. Nine are to be demolished.