Life Sciences: Moves to enhance traffic flow for vital sector

It is the beating heart of Ireland’s pharma and life sciences sector, with almost a fifth of the estimated 25,000 people employed in the sector nationally working for companies based there.

But chronic congestion on the N28 which delivers the lifeblood to and from this vital industry cluster in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, is enough to give even the hardiest commuter chest pains.

As well as being home to a raft of multinational and indigenous firms, the Ringaskiddy area hosts several IDA strategic sites, the Port of Cork, which is poised for massive expansion when it relocates its city centre operations downstream, the Irish Naval Base, the National Maritime College of Ireland and the Irish Maritime and Energy Research Cluster (IMERC).

Combined, it’s estimated that between 7,000 to 7,500 employees, students and contractors commute in and out of the area daily.

Tailbacks and delays are a daily feature on the over-capacity N28, with heavy rain and minor crashes often highlighting just how fragile the road network is.

In recent months planning permissions have been secured for a number of sites in Ringaskiddy, including Janssen Sciences Ireland UC’s €300m expansion which is expected to create 200 jobs, BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s latest expansion which will create up to 50 new jobs, and GE Healthcare’s €150m investment in the development of a biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus and establishing an advanced manufacturing training centre, which combined, will create up to 500 jobs.

The Port of Cork’s existing Ringaskiddy facility is poised for massive expansion and hundreds of new homes are earmarked for nearby Carrigaline.

Against this backdrop, and after years of lobbying, funding was finally secured for a new motorway to link the city to Ringaskiddy, and planning was finally approved by An Bórd Pleanála in July.

A residents’ group opposed to the preferred route has launched a judicial review of that decision.

While industry and educational stakeholders in Ringaksiddy accept that delivery of the motorway will take several years, they believe that steps can be taken in the meantime to promote more sustainable and environmentally friendly modes of transport that could ease the daily commute for the thousands of people who live, work or study in the area.

Mobility Management Group

Liam Brennan, the site masterplan lead at Pfizer, is the current chair of the area’s Mobility Management Group which was set up two years ago to look at ways the companies in the area could come together and try to ease the burden for employees on their daily commute to and from Ringaskiddy.

The group, which includes representatives from the life science/pharmaceutical companies in the area, also includes representatives from the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) Smarter Travel Group and in more recent months, it has included input from Cork County Council.

The Mobility Management Group’s work to date has included:

• The coordination of staggered work shifts at the various industrial sites in a bid to reduce the volume of traffic at peak hours;
• The promotion of car-pooling initiatives, and the introduction of convenient car parking spaces at the various industrial sites for employees who car share;
• The introduction of electric vehicle charge points;
• And the installation of secure and sheltered bike parking, as well as lockers, showers, and changing facilities for staff who cycle.

But Mr Brennan said the N28 does not have dedicated bus lanes and is just not designed for safe cycling so encouraging a modal shift to buses and bikes has been challenging.

The results of a transport habits survey conducted last year on almost one third of all those who commute to and from Ringaskiddy has helped inform the group’s work over the last 18-months.

Commuting: 97% of people travel to work in a vehicle

The survey found that less than 1% arrive to work by bike or bus, with a staggering 97% commuting in a vehicle — 91.5% in a car, 3.5% as passengers, and just under 2% by lorry or van.

The survey also showed that 90% of those who live within 5kms of Ringaskiddy commute by car.

Mr Brennan said the findings show how much work has to be done but he said the mobility group is determined to drive change.

“It is a slow process but we are focused on it. Securing behavioural change is difficult but we are chipping away at it,” he said.

Talks are ongoing with the NTA in a bid to improve the public bus service to the area, which it is hoped will include an improved timetable, increased frequency of buses and even the addition of a dedicated Carrigaline to Ringaskiddy service.

Mr Brennan said while all the stakeholders are conscious of the impact the M28 motorway will have in the area, he said it is of critical strategic importance.

“It will reduce commuting times but it will also open the door to more environmentally friendly ways of travel too,” he said, noting that sections of the old N28 could then be developed for safe cycling.

Cork Chamber said the importance of the M28 can’t be underestimated from a regional, national and indeed international perspective.

It said a motorway from the city to Ringaksiddy will help to secure and attract future investment in the area, and open it up to more housing development.

Along with the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway, the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade linking in with the M8, and a future Northern Ring Road, the Chamber said the M28 will help deliver an integrated transport network across Cork, linking the industrial and shipping hub at Ringaskiddy to the city, and onwards to the country.

But in a wider context, the Chamber said building the M28 would help insulate Ireland from geo-political shocks such as those posed by Brexit by securing and enhancing the competitiveness of one of Ireland’s major economic drivers — the pharma and life sciences sector in Ringaskiddy.

To date, FDI companies in Ringaskiddy have accounted for over €2.4bn in investment over the last 20 years.

An economic assessment of the existing N28 conducted by Indecon in 2014 for Cork Chamber noted that the non-completion of the motorway could result in an estimated future loss in value of trade coming through the Port of Cork to a staggering €22bn.