As more people move out of Limerick, minor roads are becoming congested, a problem not helped by poor co-ordination between city and county councils, writes Frank McDonald.
Limerick, like Galway (and Dublin, of course), is now surrounded by an ever-widening commuter belt. Recent sprawl has been prompted by a "We don't want to live in Limerick" factor, particularly among the more well-heeled.
The chocolate-box village of Adare may look charmingly unspoilt, with no noticeable ribbon of development along its main route, the N21. But the minor roads in every direction are littered with houses, most no doubt owned by commuters who drive into Limerick every day.
The same is true throughout south-east Co Clare, with one-off houses spreading along some minor country roads around Cratloe, Meelick and other villages. Cratloe, a popular place for weddings because of its white-walled barn church, even has a suburban estate tacked on to it.
Yet Limerick has four railway lines running into it. In a sensible society, its development would have been planned along these lines, stretching out towards Foynes, Nenagh, Ennis and Limerick Junction. That didn't happen, and even today there is only a limited commuter service on the Ennis line.
There is also a clear lack of co-ordination between the three principal local authorities, Limerick City Council and the county councils of Limerick and Clare. And though a common land use and transportation strategy was drafted by Buchanan and Partners in 2001, it has still not been adopted.
"Trying to get it through our neighbours has been a nightmare," said one city official. Clare wasn't too difficult because at least it got the Ennis commuter service and proposed branch line to Shannon, but Limerick County Council was more truculent because it fundamentally disagreed with the plan.
The county objected to the population share-out, which put the emphasis on reinforcing Limerick as the hub of the mid-west region. But although it wanted to see more growth in county towns like Newcastle West, it located its own headquarters in Dooradoyle, a suburb of Limerick.
It took three years to reach agreement even at administrative level on the Buchanan strategy and it has yet to be formally adopted by the three councils. In the meantime, public transport users are not well served; Bus Éireann has a fleet of just 24 buses to serve the city, and there are no bus lanes.
The priority is road investment. Last August An Bord Pleanála approved plans for the second phase of Limerick's Southern Ring Road, including a tunnel under the Shannon, at an estimated cost of €350 million. It also didn't have the power to order an increase in the tunnel's height to accommodate taller trucks.
Nearly one kilometre long, Limerick's fourth river crossing is forecast to reduce traffic congestion on routes leading out of the city by providing a bypass which would cater for some 40,000 vehicles a day, including traffic converging on Limerick from Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Ennis and Shannon.
According to the city council's senior planner, Dick Tobin, rail investment in the area "only makes sense in a west of Ireland context, connecting Cork to Galway via Limerick". That would mean reinstating the line between Ennis and Athenry as well as upgrading the existing line to give faster journey times.
As it is, the train journey from Ennis to Limerick takes 40 minutes - 10 minutes longer than travelling by car - even though there are no intermediate stations along the line. Nonetheless, this relatively new service is said to be "doing quite well", with six trains each way per day for a fare of €2 at present.
The Government's Strategic Rail Review, published in April 2003, was dubious about opening a branch line to Shannon because of the cost, estimated at €117 million. But Barry Boland, of Beaux Walk Properties, which is redeveloping Shannon town centre, has offered to chip in.
Under the Government's decentralisation plan, Enterprise Ireland, with 300 staff, and the Irish Aviation Authority, with 100, are to be located in Shannon, while 50 Revenue staff are earmarked for Kilrush. Though designated as a "hub" town in the National Spatial Strategy, Ennis was overlooked.
Limerick, a "gateway" in the NSS, is to get the development aid division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. A site on the Island Road, which was driven through the heart of the medieval city, has been selected for offices to accommodate them - probably because it is in the city council's ownership.