Sir, - Once again, the threats posed by the Eastern Bypass have been confused with matters of much less political significance.
Earthwatch did, contrary to Cllr Dermot Lacey's suggestion (January 20th) inspect the Draft City Development Plan (on view until February 12th) and found that the proposed Eastern Bypass consists of nothing more than a series of large dots originating in Dublin Port and ending at the city boundary with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
We inquired as to what would happen to the traffic where the dot ended. It appears as though the resulting traffic will be largely Dun Laoghaire's problem, and will necessitate further road development to link the Bypass to the Southern Cross Motorway.
It was in this context that we stated that the Bypass would have significant environmental impacts on residential communities. In the main, the traffic increases will be felt in Dun Laoghaire, which is outside Cllr Lacey's constituency but surely just as deserving of clean air and a healthy environment.
Local government has an almost non-existent role in public transport yet a highly powerful one in roads development. Integrated approaches which tackle both "demand" (sustainability and landuse) and "supply" (transport infrastructure) issues need to be addressed together and not piecemeal, as is currently the case.
While it is not surprising that politicians feel frustrated about congestion in Dublin, we believe that local government ought to use its clout more creatively, in so far as it has any power at all, to deliver a better transport system. Instead, our system of local government encourages politicians to just "join the dots" which expand our roads network.
Indeed, it does not help that the national picture mirrors the local. The National Roads Authority is proposing to double the width of the M50, and the Port Tunnel will now consist of four lanes instead of two. The only national transport strategy that exists is one for roads - amounting to £6 billion worth - and at every political level, public transport falls through the net. At this stage, the original DTI plan is so modified that it is time to start again on a new transport strategy for Dublin.
If politicians are, as they insist, committed to delivering traffic reduction, we will need policy and legislative reform instead of personal remarks which distract us from the real issues at hand. - Yours, etc., Sadhbh O'Neill,
Earthwatch, Grove Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.