Lee Valley plan set to spark protests

THE first warning shots were fired last April but the real battle begins today.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) will confirm this afternoon that a vast high-level bridge up to 40 metres above the Lee Valley and spanning adistance of several hundred metres is included in its preferred route for the first phase of Cork’s €500m northern ring road.

The bridge will form part of the western section of the ring road which is designed to complete the roadnetwork around Cork city.

Work on the overall ring road scheme started in 2001. It was divided into two phases — the northern section linking the N20 Cork to Mallow Road with the N8 Glanmire bypass, and the western section linking the Ballincollig bypass with the N20.

Engineers announced the preferred route for the northern section first but they hope to secure funding, and start work on the western section first.

Its preferred route, to be announced later today, includes a bridge located above a floodplain close to historic Carrigrohane Castle.

It is also close to a site which has been earmarked by Cork City Council for a public sports complex.

Engineers said that such high-level bridge crossings have already been successfully used in Ireland to cross the environmentally sensitive Boyne Valley.

It is envisaged that this bridge crossing could form a landmark feature for Cork, similar to the Boyne Valley Crossing, NRA documentation to be released today says.

However, the proposal is likely to spark an intense public protest led by members of the Save the Lee Valley Campaign.

Set up earlier this year, the campaign warned that they would fight all the way to the High Court any plans to build bridges across the scenic Lee Valley as part of the ring road project.

“This is not a ‘not in my backyard’ campaign,” said spokesman Patrick Hayes at the time. “We are against anything that would destroy the wonderful amenity that is the Lee Valley and the Lee Fields.”

Nine routes were considered for the western section of the ring road.

Some of the routesincluded bridges over the Lee Valley, close to the Lee Fields amenity, and others included massive tunnels.

Following a rigorous comparative analysis, the preferred route — a combination of the grey and purple routes — will be announced today.

The preferred route for the northern phase of the ring road — to link the N20 Mallow Road to the main Cork to Dublin road — was announced in April 2006.

The entire northern ring road has been described as one of the region’s most critical pieces of infrastructure that will complete the existing road network around Cork city.

Its importance for the strategic and spatial development of the greater Cork area is highlighted in the Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP).

The project is designed to reduce traffic congestion, improve access and redress the development and infrastructural imbalance towards the northern part of the city.

It is being promoted by both Cork City and County Councils and is funded by the NRA. However, funding is not anticipated before 2010.

The brochure detailing the preferred route corridor for the western section will also be available online on the Cork National Roads Office webpage, www.corkrdo.ie, under “current schemes” from today onwards.