20 year wait likely for N59

20 year wait likely for N59


Anna Marie Flynn

THE planned N59 Crossmolina bypass may not come to fruition for up to twenty years – according to members of Ballina Area Committee.
Councillors were told the planned bypass, which has been at route planning stage for the last number of years, has now been ‘suspended’ and is believed to be one of forty major road projects scrapped due to lack of funding by the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Cathaoirleach of the Area Committee, Cllr Jarlath Munnelly, branded the road a ‘dead duck’. He said that while planning should be put in place for the future, it was ‘realistic’ to consider that road users could be travelling on the existing route between Crossmolina and Ballina for the next 15 to 20 years.
“The fact is we need to plan for the future when plans do get up and running again. Firstly, we need to put the route options to bed so we can decide on the line on the map necessary to get this road to the next stage of planning but bear in mind that it could be 15 to 20 years before the road plans come back to life again. Secondly, we need to address the existing road as people will probably be using it daily for the next two decades,” said Cllr Munnelly.
However, estimations of twenty years were even deemed optimistic by Cllr Eddie Staunton. “There isn’t a ghost’s chance of this road going through. There isn’t a penny in place and in the meantime lands are frozen throughout the area,” he said.
While plans are at a standstill, local residents fear for the future of their lands, as land sterilisation is currently in place along all five ‘live’ route options – a direct result of the failure of the County Council to approve the recommended route option.  Consequently, residents and land-owners along affected areas stretching from Ballina to Crossmolina, are heavily restricted in terms of land use.
Not all members present were in favour of the road, even if the money was available. Cllr Gerry Ginty told the meeting he was unsurprised by the events and branded the project a ‘daft idea’. “This was a daft idea in the first place. Why should this amount of money – millions of euro – be spent on this when no one really wanted it? A small fraction of the money could be spent to deliver a good road to this area. A good road, combined with extra parking facilities in the town of Crossmolina could see traffic problems alleviated greatly. We need to be realistic and this is the type of project which should have been aimed for.”
Senior Engineer with Mayo County Council, Noel Burke, said the project was ‘futuristic’ and necessary for the future of the region as a whole, when ‘all road networks’ are considered.  “The fact is that the Council needed to approve of a preferred route and that was not done. The members chose not to do so and that put the project back to a situation where all route options went back on the table which in turn upset planning issues for landowners. Until one option emerges as the preferred route restrictions will continue,” he said.
Councillors will further debate the issue in September when Tony McNulty and Paul Hyland of the Regional Design Office will make a presentation to the Area Committee.