RYAN CALLS ON PLAN FOR M1 CORRIDOR

Brendan Ryan, Labour Party TD for Dublin Fingal, has called on Minister Ross to implement a plan to alleviate the traffic congestion on the M1 corridor in Dublin.

Raising this as a Parliamentary Question, Ryan asked the Minister for his plan to resolve the traffic gridlock in Dublin with specific reference to the M1 corridor, one of the only main arteries into the city which is not supported by a rail or light rail line.

Ryan “I have consistently raised this for the last two and a half years but nothing has happened. I have implored the Minister to make better use of the Port Tunnel, to invest in bus services and examine lane reconfigurations. But nothing has happened. MetroLink remains in the far distance but we need solutions now, not 10 years from now. I was disappointed with the Minister’s reply which focused heavily on BusConnects which won’t be implemented until 2020 at the earliest. I am open to the possibility of BusConnects, although it does need alteration, but I am worried about it’s viability particularly in light of Minister Ross’ performance on the matter this morning. We have a weak Government, with many weak Ministers and that is not a recipe for ambitious progress or resolving problems such as the traffic gridlock in Dublin”.

The Minister responded with the following “The M1 corridor will significantly benefit from these investments. Though the full BusConnects programme is currently at the public consultation stage, it is expected that a core bus corridor will be developed between Swords and the city centre, to allow for faster and more efficient bus travel. The emerging preferred route of Metrolink, which is also at the public consultation stage, would see the north-south urban railway service run between Swords and Sandyford, connecting key destinations including Dublin Airport. It will deliver 25 minute journeys from Swords to the city centre, and 20 minute journeys from Dublin Airport to the city centre. Meanwhile, the DART Expansion Programme will see the DART extend to Balbriggan by 2022 and onwards to Drogheda in the following years. A series of strategically-positioned park and ride facilities will be developed alongside these investments, to open up their benefits to a wider geographical area.”