The Department of the Environment has defended the “valuable work” of An Taisce, and rejected a local authority’s call to cut funding to the heritage body.

An Taisce says its latest legal challenge to a €69m upgrade of the N86 main road to Dingle is “to ensure things are done properly”.

Eight people have died in traffic accidents over a 10-year period on a busy tourist route earmarked for a major upgrade.

The decision by An Taisce, in November, 2014, to seek a judicial review of the proposed improvement work on the section of the N86 road from Dingle to Camp has saddened, disappointed, and angered the majority of people living on the Dingle Peninsula and those who visit it regularly.

The signs summed up the story: “Our Road Is A Mess — We Want Progress.’.

GALLARUS AND KILMALKEDAR, DINGLE

A failure by An Bord Pleanála to consider the needs of cyclists and pedestrians when it refused permission for a major road-widening scheme extending 28km between Tralee and Daingean in Co Kerry has led to a High Court order overturning that refusal.

Despite strong warnings that Kerry’s road network will deteriorate further, funding for the county council’s 2014 roadworks programme has been slashed by 34%.

Plans to develop a nationwide network of rural cycling lanes on secondary roads have been put in jeopardy by An Bord Pleanála.

VENTRY/ST COLMAN’S WALK, CO KERRY

Long-awaited improvements to the N86 main road, through the Dingle Peninsula, could be delayed for up to 20 years if An Bord Pleanála does not give the all-clear for the work to proceed.

A €65m scheme to radically widen and straighten a large section of a narrow road between Dingle and Tralee will have to go back to the drawing board, An Bord Pleanála has ruled.

Dozens of road crashes could be avoided by upgrading a substandard road in Co Kerry, an oral hearing was told yesterday.

The proposed widening and removal of bends on a notable tourist road in Kerry will have a profound impact on the landscape, it has been claimed.

A €97.3 MILLION bypass road, to be officially launched in Tralee today by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, will result in an estimated 15% reduction in accidents as well as cutting traffic in the centre of the heavily congested town by a quarter.

A NEW levy is to be imposed on developers in Tralee to help pay for link routes to a €137 million ring road planned for the town.

A man in his 30s died tonight after the car he was driving crashed into a lorry.

A PLAN by RTÉ to build a 24-metre mast in a scenic part of the Dingle Peninsula has been rejected on the grounds it would interfere with the natural beauty of the area.