Residents fear toll will drive motorists to their village

THE National Roads Authority will today assure concerned residents that safeguards will be put in place to counter motorists escaping a new toll bridge on the main Cork-Dublin road.

Locals in Watergrasshill plan to protest, this morning and afternoon, at the official opening of the new, almost €300 million stretch of the N8 Fermoy-Rathcormac motorway.

Residents fear the new vehicle levies — €1.60 on cars — will force thousands of motorists to divert through the village.

Watergrasshill Community Council insisted the extra traffic generated by the motorway tolls will pose a serious safety risk for pedestrians, especially school children.

However, the NRA said the construction of a new link road, which would act as a permanent, alternative, by-pass of Watergrasshill, was now in full operation. A spokesperson said the road would deter motorists from using the village as a “rat run”.

“Traffic wishing to avoid the toll and use the existing road through Rathcormac and Fermoy will leave the dual carriageway at the Watergrasshill interchange and will be signposted along the new alternative route which will bring the traffic to the northern end of Watergrasshill village,” a NRA spokesman said.

The NRA yesterday announced a €2m programme of remedial works to improve road safety in Watergrasshill, Rathcormac and Fermoy. It will include the installation of new pedestrian crossings, signal controlled junctions in Watergrasshill and improved road signage, to divert traffic away from the village.

The NRA said there was a longstanding policy to give motorists the option of travelling via an alternative, free, route.

From today, commuters will still be able to use the old Dublin-Cork road, although its speed limit will be reduced from 100kmph to 80kmph.

However, the community council in Watergrasshill said the NRA’s attempts to address local concerns were still “totally unsatisfactory”.

WCC chairman, Denis Dineen, said the link road did not represent a complete by-pass of Watergrasshill, as traffic still had to pass through part of the village.

Instead, local residents want the original by-pass to be restored by the NRA, providing a new access/exit ramp to the motorway at the toll plaza, located north of Watergrasshill.

The WCC will today present a letter to Transport Minister Martin Cullen, who will perform the official opening ceremony.

The 17.5km road, which cost €295m, was built under a public private partnership by DirectRoute and was completed nine months ahead of schedule. It is expected to reduce journey times between Dublin and Cork by 20 minutes.

Mr Dineen estimated that up to 10,000 of the 17,500 vehicles currently using the dual carriageway daily will take alternative routes to avoid the tolls. However, Cork County Council believes that only around 6,500 of existing users will avoid the toll road.

Meanwhile, the NRA said it was unable to act on the recent motion passed by Cork County Council to waive tolls for the first two weeks of the new by-pass due to “contractual obligations” to the toll operator.

It also announced that it is due to improve road signage on approaches to the M4 Kilcock-Kinnegad motorway in order to highlight alternative routes to the M4 which charges a €2.50 toll on cars.