OVER 600 objections have been lodged against Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's plan to transform Church Road, Killiney, into a four lane dualcarriageway.
Local residents are urging the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, who will decide the issue, to reject the road widening scheme on the basis that the environmental impact statement (EIS) is "seriously flawed".
Ms Alma Clissmann, secretary of the Church Road Residents' Association, said the study was only commissioned last June - long after preparatory roadworks had started - despite a legal requirement that schemes of this magnitude are subjected to an EIS.
In a letter to Mr Howlin, backed by detailed analysis of the EIS by the association's consultants, she said the residents favoured reverting to an earlier plan - approved by Dun Laoghaire councillors in 1993 - for a two lane road with cycle tracks on either side.
The Department of the Environment was itself concerned that this plan "may be inadequate in terms of capacity and safety". This led the councillors to change their minds and approve the four lane dual carriageway favoured by the road engineers.
In 1994, despite local protests, work started on building stone clad boundary walls on Church Road. Their pressure led to the belated commissioning of an EIS - after its leafy character had been compromised by the felling of mature trees.
The residents' association has complained to the Minister that there would be insufficient space for replacement planting and this would leave many of the houses exposed to air and noise pollution. The road would also lose most of its aesthetic quality, they say.
Their submission includes a detailed analysis of the scheme by Dr Omar Farouki, senior lecturer in traffic and highway engineering at Queen's University Belfast. He argues that the design of the road would be unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
The residents maintain the scheme was intended to provide a link between Dun Laoghaire and the N11. But they say the proposed width is no longer just because, the plans for Dun Laoghaire, harbour have changed and it will not cater for heavy goods traffic.
