Ikea store ‘will account for 12% of M50 traffic’

PEOPLE travelling to the first Ikea furniture store in the Republic will account for up to 12% of all vehicles using the already congested M50, according to the National Roads Authority.

The claim was made yesterday during the first day of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into plans by the Swedish furniture giant to locate a store in north Ballymun.

The National Roads Authority said the country’s busiest motorway, which is currently undergoing a €1 billion upgrade, would require further major roadworks by 2012 in order to cater for the extra traffic generated by the planned store.