Residents of Navan, Co Meath, may have noticed a curious phenomenon on their snail's pace trek home through Flower Hill traffic one evening recently. Census enumerators, accompanied by a garda, were stopping passing motorists seeking details of their planned journey and traffic habits.
The traffic survey is one of a number of steps under way to implement a "grand plan" for Navan over the next 15 years and beyond, which will see it effectively triple in population size. It won't be an easy transition from town to city.
In 1996, Navan had a population of around 21,000. It's already far higher and a population as high as 60,000 is predicted by 2015. The growth is inevitable and planning for the increased traffic flows is only one small but essential element.
Government policy has earmarked Navan as a primary development centre and already there are signs that it is beginning to burst at the seams. Housing estates are being built at a furious rate and many are filled with commuters lured from Dublin by the promise of a 30-minute drive to the M50 in the morning. Of course, as with commuters travelling from other towns in Meath, Kildare and Westmeath each day, they are often sorely disappointed.
Quality of life and traffic congestion will be addressed, however, with improved infrastructure and strategic plans to make Navan, along with a number of other towns, more self-sufficient and less reliant on Dublin.
Although there is more than adequate land available for new development, infrastructure has lagged behind and is only now beginning to catch up with the pace of building of homes and industrial and commercial projects.
However, according to Mr Joe Crockett, assistant county manager of Meath County Council, all the necessary infrastructure and planning for the future of the town is either already in train or is in the planning stages. Current planning for Navan at local authority level involves a number of strategies to make the town a more pleasant and attractive place to live, effectively "turning it towards the River Boyne" and creating more green space.
A park along the Boyne at the area known as the Ramparts is planned, but there are some difficulties sourcing land for the project. Private landowners may also hold up the plan to create a new civic square at Kennedy Road. The council is negotiating with a number of landowners in the area.
A plan for a St Stephen's Green-style park at the Fairgreen, currently a disc parking area and busy outdoor market each Friday, has been drafted with the assistance of the Fingal county architect, Mr David O'Connor. The plan, which incorporates an underground road, caused a sharp intake of breath when it was first viewed, but the council is now committed to starting the portion of the work which can be accomplished on its own lands. This project could also be under way as early as next year.
A new £4 million theatre and arts complex, which will also be the headquarters of the Co Meath-based National Ballet Company, will be located beside the council's headquarters on the Trim road. The council is in talks with the Courts Service about the possibility of incorporating a new courts complex into the scheme. Work should begin on the arts centre next year.
The triangle of three main streets in the town centre, Trimgate Street, Watergate Street and Ludlow Street, will be improved. A major piece of sculpture has been commissioned for Market Square and should be in place within 15 months. A second work of art is proposed between the two bridges on the ring road.
Significant infrastructural development at regional and national level must be put in train to further enhance the benefits of Navan's new streetscape and cultural facilities, however. One of the most important wish-list items, although it is viewed more as essential than an aspiration, is the reopening of the Dublin-Navan rail line. It closed in the 1950s, but is still in place requiring substantial work. The estimated cost of its reopening stands at £91 million.
"The railway line and the new bypass will be the gateway to industry in our town and our county," according to Mr Tommy Reilly, chairman of Navan Urban Council. The failure to secure private lands for the proposed £300 million Clonee-Kells bypass, due for completion by 2006, would be disastrous, he says.
As a whole, these plans form "a realistic blueprint" for the future of Navan, says Mr Crockett. "What we have been doing is trying to make the town a better place to live and we are using urban design as a tool to get the quality of life right for everyone."
Recent developments, including road enhancements and £5 million investment in the leisure centre and swimming pool on the Windtown Road, are "an indication of how the council is putting its money where its mouth is".
"I think even next year will do an awful lot for Navan. While it's in transition at present, it has the capacity to be a really lovely place to live," Mr Crockett concludes.