State appeals to private sector for partners in road-building projects

The Government is seeking partners from the private sector to design, build, finance and maintain 11 sections of its proposed national roads-building programme.

In return, the private sector operators are to be allowed to collect tolls from drivers. Tolls are to be modelled on existing charges at Dublin's West Link and, according to National Roads Authority (NRA) estimates, will vary between £1 and £2, depending on the length of the road.

Details were announced at a seminar for bankers and construction experts in Dublin yesterday. The road works in question are: the Dundalk bypass; the Clonee-Kells section of the N3; the Kinnegad-Enfield-Kilcock section of the N4/N6; the Oranmore East section of the N6; the Portlaoise-Castletown and Portlaoise-Culahill sections of the N7 and N8 roads respectively; the Fermoy bypass; the Waterford bypass and the Limerick South Ring Road. National Toll Roads has been selected to build a second Liffey crossing beside the West Link bridge.

According to an ambitious timetable announced by the NRA, most of the schemes will be ready for construction between 2002 and 2003, with completion dates between 2005 and 2006.

Two of the schemes - the Waterford bypass and the new Kilcock-Enfield-Kinnegad road which would run almost parallel to, and to the south of, the existing N4/N6 - were sufficiently advanced in planning terms to attract expressions of interest from the private sector.

The Waterford bypass extends from Kilmeaden in Co Waterford to east of Silverue in Co Kilkenny. The scheme comprises 23 km of dual carriageway and 4 km of single carriageway.

The Kilcock-Kinnegad scheme is 35 km long. A decision on it from An Bord Pleanala is expected in May 2001.

Although design work on both began around 1998, they were described by the NRA as part of the National Development Plan 2000-2006.

Participants were told that the likely length of contract for the private partners would be 30 years and that tolls could vary "within an overall template".