Spending on roads could hit €100bn

SPENDING on infrastructure could reach €100 billion over the next 10 years, Finance Minister Brian Cowen said in Derry yesterday.

Speaking to civic and business leaders, Mr Cowan said it included £16bn proposed by the British government and the Republic’s €36bn public capital investment spend in the next five years.

“It is not beyond the bounds of possibility, therefore, that the combined spend on infrastructure on the island, north and south, over the next 10 years could be of the order of €90 to €100bn,” said the minister.

He suggested they should pool their thinking, planning and resources to ensure the potential of this unprecedented opportunity for the future was maximised.

“The whole question of public private partnerships to help deliver on this must be properly co-ordinated and examined,” he said.

Meanwhile, work began yesterday on a €230m bypass that will shave 30 minutes off journey times between Dublin and Galway. The 57.5km dual carriageway around Kilbeggan and Kinnegad, one of eight projects improving road access to the west, will take about 11,000 vehicles out of the towns every day. The Kinnegad/Kilbeggan bypass is a key part of the N6 Kinnegad to Athlone scheme. The new route is mainly south of the existing N6 and there will be access to the local road network through six junctions at Athlone, Farnagh, Moate, Kilbeggan, Tyrrellspass and Rochfortbridge.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen said the Government was committed to investing €150m of taxpayers’ money a month in the road network.

Meanwhile, the €119m Ennis bypass should have more link roads with the town or it will damage local business, it was claimed yesterday. Cllr Brian Meaney of the Green Party called for more intersections than the three included in plans for the 14km project.

Multinational contract firm Gama began work on the project a year ago and is due to complete it during 2007.

Mr Meaney called for the current plans to be amended and modelled on the Athlone By-pass, where all routes into the town intersect with the by-pass.

The Ennis By-pass project is expected to remove 14,000 vehicles from the Clare county town, one of the fastest-growing hubs in the country.