Brennan urged to put tolls on existing roads

PRESSURE is mounting on Transport Minister Seamus Brennan to impose tolls on existing roads to make up for a €10 billion overrun on a national road improvements programme.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), John Purcell, has suggested the tolling of existing national routes as one method of bridging a funding shortfall because the estimated cost of several major road projects overseen by the National Roads Authority (NRA) has risen by almost 200% over a two-year period.

Only 50% of the roads programme being implemented under the National Development Plan will be completed within its original deadline of 2006 due to soaring costs.

The NRA, which was criticised in the C&AG’s report for “a systematic failure” in fully costing major road projects, has already sought Government approval to introduce tolls on several existing major roads.

Mr Brennan is still considering the NRA’s recommendations for tolls on other main roads, including the Newbridge bypass. However, he has already ruled out controversial proposals to charge vehicles for using the Jack Lynch Tunnel under the River Lee in Cork.

Reacting to the C&AG’s report yesterday, the minister said it was “legitimate but not fair” to compare original “ballpark” estimates for road projects with the eventual outrun costs.

The C&AG blamed poor cost estimates and delays in implementing projects for an increase in the cost of the roads programme from €5.6bn to €15.8bn between 2000 and 2002. By last year, the figure has risen to €16.4bn.

Mr Brennan claimed that a large part of the cost overruns was due to inflation and increases in the cost of land acquisition.

However, opposition parties claimed the minister was culpable.

“Despite oft-repeated promises, there is still no sign of the National Roads Infrastructure Bill, which, if implemented correctly, would cut the cost of land acquisition to assist road building,” said Labour transport spokesperson, Roisín Shortall.

Her Fine Gael counterpart, Denis Naughten, said the minister was “typically rudderless” on the roads programme, like on other issues in his portfolio.

Meanwhile, NRA director of corporate affairs, Michael Egan, accepted that the organisation had inadequate in-house costing expertise prior to 2000 as stated in the C&AG’s report. However, he said the situation had improved in recent years with more precise costing as well as through a move to fixed price contracts. It had enabled the NRA to complete most recent projects within cost estimates and on time, said Mr Egan.

He claimed the NRA was constrained by a scheme of fees controlled by the Government which meant consultants were allowed to charge a percentage of the total cost of a road project for their services. Mr Egan said the NRA had also sought to have greater direct involvement in control of road projects which currently rested largely with local authorities.