Road spending plans are way off track

How can we even think of spending €800 million on a motorway from Cork to Limerick with the country in economic meltdown?

It is not just the bankers and politicians who are to blame, but the squandering of Celtic Tiger money (€10 billion a year) on roads which do not produce a financial return.

If the theory that building roads creates prosperity were true, we would all be millionaires by now!

The NRA’s master plan for doubling traffic volumes between 2002 and 2040 has been proved wrong; traffic is 20% below predicted levels.

They admit not taking into account energy issues; they have simply extrapolated past traffic growth.

Nevertheless, they continue with fairy tale planning — typical of Government-funded organisations, from the SEAI, to the IEA.

Subsides will continue to drive traffic growth; in many countries petrol and diesel costs as little as 10c to 40c per litre. China is putting an extra 20 million cars on the road per year. Oil production has peaked; it has not increased since 2004 and only 3% since 1998. Traffic growth has only been possible due to increased use of gas, coal, nuclear and renewables for electricity generation.

We are doomed to a cycle of ever deepening economic recessions following a cycle of ever-increasing oil costs.

Tragically, most people have been misled by cornucopian theology and blind faith in yet-to-be discovered miraculous technological fixes.

Salvation can only come from a moratorium on road-building, diverting resources to public transport, rebuilding the railways, and road-charges.

Michael Job

C.Eng. M.I.E.T

Glengarriff

Co Cork