Sir, - It appears to be an accepted fact that the opening of the next stage of the M50 to Ballinteer will lead to unprecedented levels of traffic congestion in Ballinteer and Dundrum, and the best proposal offered by the local authority to alleviate this congestion is to ask local residents not to use their cars for the next three years! I would like to offer two suggestions which would have a significant impact on the problem and which are in the direct control of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. First, there are planning applications currently being processed which will deliver up to 1,000 housing units in the area. These should be rejected until the road systems are in place to cope with the traffic which they will generate. Second, to reduce by 50 per cent the traffic which will be drawn to Ballinteer and Dundrum, only the northbound carriageway of the motorway should be opened, with southbound traffic continuing to exit at Scholarstown or Knocklyon until such as the M50 is completed to Loughlinstown.
It seems odd that, given the alleged commitment by our local authorities to public transport, none of the new roads being built has any provision, present or future, for bus lanes. Perhaps, like the above suggestions, this would be too obvious for our "planners". - Yours, etc.,
Paul Waldron, The Close, Woodpark, Dublin 16.