Vital relief road could take years
COMPLETION OF PROJECT DELAYED
Damian Kavanagh and Maurice Cunningham, Holywell Residents association, who are campaigning for the relief road to be completed to reduce traffic congestion within the estate.
Wednesday March 10 2010
IT could take years before a badly-needed relief road is provided in the Holywell estate, as the council does not have the finance to purchase a parcel of land needed to complete it.
The land lies to the northwest of the Swords development and has delayed the completion of the road, which is an objective of Fingal's County Development Plan.
It's believed the land in question is part-owned by Bovale's Michael and Tom Bailey and David Daly of Albany Homes and the proposed route will divert traffic around Holywell, while also linking the Feltrim Hall roundabout with Airside Business Park. However, as the council neither owns the land nor has the finance to purchase it, traffic volumes are likely to escalate for the foreseeable future.
'Unfortunately the council does not have the resources at this time to prioritise a CPO (compulsory purchase order) of the piece of land required to complete the distributor road,' a council spokesperson said. 'However, we can confirm that completion of this road will be made a priority deliverable in advance of further development taking place on land adjacent to the Holywell development and this distributor road.'
The site in question is located within lands earmarked to form the new Swords town centre, which is set to 'grow' across the N1 in the coming years, stretching from Airside Business Park to the Drynam Roundabout. However, it's not known when any proposed works will be carried out on the lands, meaning residents could be facing an even lengthier wait.
'The estate's through road is not supposed to be a by-pass,' Holywell Residents chair, Maurice Cunningham added. 'It's an internal estate road and it's not designed to take the heavy traffic.
' That's one of the reasons there have been so many crashes. Discussions need to start for the safety of the residents. It's a matter of urgency and all of the councillors are aware of the issue.
'If the estate was completed as per the planning, it wouldn't be an issue.'
Fianna Fáil's Cllr Darragh Butler raised the matter at a council meeting almost two years ago, saying he understood the two landowners 'cannot come to an agreement' to hand over the land to the local authority. The council responded by saying the land was 'expected to be required to facilitate future planning permissions'.
- Robin KIELY
