Development proposals worth almost £1 billion have received a major boost with the news that nine companies are vying to build the South-Eastern Motorway (SEM).

The nine were notified by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last Friday that they should now tender for the construction, and contracts are expected to be signed in December, with work beginning early next year. The Southern Cross Motorway from the Tallaght interchange to Ballinteer is on schedule to open next summer.

The news will come as a relief to developers whose projects are dependent on the provision of the motorway either as a condition of planning permission or because the absence of the motorway leaves them without access to their sites. It is now nine years since the public inquiry into the Southern Cross Route. Last November, the Dail was told that about three-quarters of a billion pounds worth of development projects were being delayed. That figure is now understood to be closer to £1 billion.

The Fine Gael spokeswoman on traffic, Olivia Mitchell, said projects relying on the motorway included "the entire Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council housing programme, the Dublin waste management strategy and the completion of a 12,000-job business park at Central Park, Leopardstown".

The provision of the motorway will be a boost, particularly for projects such as a planned wastebaling centre at Ballyogan, which is vital for the Dublin waste management plan proposed by the four local authorities.

Other projects near the motorway include a network of local roads at Ballyogan and Ballinteer, serving proposed public and private housing, and an access road from the SEM to the housing and science and technology park at Cherrywood, near Loughlinstown.

Plans partially contingent on the SEM include the development of industrial zoned land at Carrickmines, private housing at Carrickmines, Stepaside and Ballyogan and a land reservation for a Luas extension from Stillorgan to Cabinteely.

The largest development near the motorway is the 20-acre Central Park development on the former Legionaries of Christ site, which includes plans for a 1.7 million sq ft office complex and a hotel costed at about £500 million.

While phase one of this development contains about half the projected value and is not being delayed, the planning permission states phase two is dependent on the motorway being built and land being allocated for Luas. Phase three is dependent on the Luas line being in place.

At Cherrywood, a science and technology park is estimated to be worth about £300 million and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was extremely concerned about the delay. The council, a shareholder in the development, is keen to develop the industrially zoned lands around the SEM to broaden its commercial rates base.

It is estimated that public and private housing development plans could amount to £450 million, of which half could be deleted by an inadequate road network. The cost of the SEM was estimated at £133 million more than two years ago and included the cost of the associated roads. This figure is now expected to reach £150 million.

The council claims the Dublin city region is grinding to a halt because the transport arteries are choking under the weight of growing demand. The pace of development of the M50 has been difficult and slow over the last decade but a portfolio of road schemes transforming the Knocklyon/Rathfarnham/Dundrum/Ballinteer area is now emerging.

The statutory process for the Southern Cross Route was commenced by Dublin County Council when the Motorway Order and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) were published in 1991. It was five years before the Minister's decision on the scheme was clear of legal challenge and the detailed design was undertaken. In April 1998 construction began on the first Southern Cross Route contract, which takes the motorway from the Tallaght Interchange on the N81 as far as Kellystown.

A secondary, smaller Southern Cross Route contract, which brings the motorway to the Ballinteer Interchange, commenced in November 1999.

Together these two schemes, when completed by next summer, will feed the motorway traffic onto the local road network around Ballinteer. To prepare the existing roads to distribute the motorway traffic, the new Green Route, Ballinteer Road and Wyckham Bypass have been completed before the motorway.

In addition, the Dundrum bypass is expected to be underway and will enable traffic from Ballinteer Road and Sandyford to travel northwards and bypass the main street. Ancillary schemes include the Drummartin link road, the Leopardstown dual carriageway, the Wyattville link and improvement to the N11.

The statutory process for the South Eastern Motorway began when the motorway order and EIS were published in 1997. It too is now free of legal challenge and construction will start in 2000.