A new £15 million bypass will be effectively reduced to a back road if the National Roads Authority (NRA) goes ahead with its preferred route for the Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme.
The Moone and Timolin bypass in Co Kildare opened less than one year ago and was heralded as a significant time saver for traffic between Dublin and Waterford.
However the NRA now has decided to favour a different route for traffic, just a couple of kilometres to the west.
The 6.2 km bypass runs from Crookstown to just south of Moone and was jointly funded by the NRA and the European Union. It includes a bridge carrying traffic from Moone to the Athy road, as well as several underpasses to accommodate wildlife.
Local businessman Mr Seamus O'Reilly whose service station in Crookstown lost half of its business when the bypass first opened, has just relocated at the new road. But now he fears he will be ruined if the NRA goes ahead with its preferred route. The NRA said it would have been impractical to incorporate the existing bypass in to the Kilcullen to Waterford scheme.
"All options were looked at but it was not practical to widen the Moone-Timolin bypass. Also, it had too many side accesses on to it whereas the final preferred route that was selected has total access control for safety reasons," said a spokesperson for the NRA. The Moone-Timolin bypass was already under construction before the Government's decision to approve the five national artery routes under the National Development Plan, she added. Construction of the new road is due to begin in 2003.