More than a generation has now passed since provision for a motorway bypass of the capital was first included in Dublin County Council's 1972 development plan.
Yesterday's opening of the final stretch of what has since become known as the M50, albeit 33 years later, must be welcomed - not least because it should bring some relief to suburban areas plagued by through-traffic.
But the cost of the last leg has been staggering, at €596 million, or €42.5 million per kilometre. Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec) would have us believe that this was due to delays caused by the archaeological dig at Carrickmines Castle and the court actions that ensued over it. This is simply untrue. Only €20 million of the total bill has been officially attributed to the Carrickmines row. The main reason why this 14-kilometre stretch of motorway in south Co Dublin cost so much is that the land required for it had to be purchased at massively inflated prices during the height of the property boom.
Any notion that the completed route will "solve" congestion in the wider city is equally misplaced. Even before the first cars set their wheels on the latest pristine stretch of roadway yesterday afternoon, plans to upgrade the M50 by widening it to six running lanes and turning its notoriously ill-designed interchanges into virtual spaghetti junctions had already been drawn up by the National Roads Authority (NRA) and approved by An Bord Pleanála. And after up to €1 billion is invested in this project, traffic congestion on the M50 will be as chronic as it is today; the only difference is that the number of vehicles involved will be much, much higher. And that number will include most, though not all, of the trucks currently trundling up and down the Liffey quays, after the Dublin Port Tunnel finally opens next year. Even if the Government heeded Ibec's call to prioritise an eastern bypass, by extending the tunnel southwards, the benefits are likely to be marginal.
Of course, it is true that the West Link toll booth plaza represents a serious bottleneck, and the NRA has said it is studying the possibility of replacing it with tolls at the entrances to the M50. But this idea also seems out-dated. For the past 10 years, Singapore has been operating a digital tolling system whereby motorists using its motorway network all have transponders fitted to their cars and receive bills at the end of each month related to how often they use it.
In all the hoopla over the M50's completion, it should not be forgotten what function the motorway was meant to perform. As originally conceived, it was to provide a national bypass of Dublin so that someone travelling from Wexford to Dundalk, for example, could avoid having to negotiate the city's streets. But we have allowed so many traffic-generating facilities to be developed along its route that it has, willy-nilly, become the main road of a North American-style "edge city". And that, more than anything, explains why it barely works.