CORK 2 Limerick Motorway

07/01/2018

A cautious welcome for a statement from the Minister but let’s remember we’ve here before. The pressure needs to be increased to ensure the M20 doesn’t fall between the cracks again.

The proposed M20 motorway is certain to be included in the Government’s 10-year capital plan later this month, it can be revealed.

21/10/2017

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/m20-motorway-can-bring-thousands-of-new-jobs-461344.html

The M20 motorway between Cork and Limerick will enhance the entire region economically and socially while bringing new life to towns like Charleville, Co Cork.

21/10/2017

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cork-limerick-motorway-to-be-in-capital-plan-taoiseach-confirms-1.3255641

Work on €850m project could start by 2021 if planning is granted

21/10/2017

In recent weeks after a cabinet meeting in UCC further indications were given with regards to the M20 Motorway.
We all know that the Motorway will proceed but when is the question. It is estimated that that Motorway will take 10 years at least to complete but the fact no timeline has yet been outlined is very worrying.

FINANCE Minister Paschal Donohoe has declined to give a firm date as to when he expects the Limerick to Cork M20 motorway to be completed. The proposed M20 project has been given €5m to take it to the planning and tendering phase, the news being confirmed at a Cork Chamber breakfast briefi...

04/10/2017

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/varadkar-promises-motorway-from-cork-to-limerick-1.3236083

‘It’s part of a future Atlantic Corridor which is going to link the entire western seaboard’

04/10/2017

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/micheal-martin-cork-limerick-motorway-is-an-absolute-imperative-456071.html

Martin: Transport links between Cork and Limerick must improve

18/07/2017

12/07/2017

Key FindingsThe assessment highlights the following key bene ts that would arise from completion of the M20 Cork to Limerick Motorway scheme:> The current N20 is under signi cant capacity constraints due to the recent growth in tra c volumes. Several locations on the current N20 have seen tra c levels at over 120% of capacity in 2017.> Development of the M20 would provide a Blarney to Patrickswell journey time of approximately 47 minutes.> The M20 scheme would prevent approximately 118 accidents per annum, which could result in an annual monetary saving of €12.4 million.> These transport bene ts would also underpin the competitiveness of the South-West and Mid-West Regions, through enhancing internal and external connectivity, and improving productivity.> The M20 would facilitate the development of a Cork-Limerick ‘twin-city’ region, which would provide a complement to Dublin in the context of the National Planning Framework, and the wider Mid-West and South- West Regions (including Kerry) and the Atlantic Corridor.> The M20 scheme would provide enhanced labour market connectivity for the 273,000 people in the wider catchment’s labour force. The motorway would increase the labour force within a 45-minute commute of major employment centres by an estimated 23% to 243,000 people.> The M20’s role in enhancing the environment for FDI and indigenous investment has the potential to support an estimated additional 4,000-5,400 direct jobs in the region. In gross terms excluding displacement impacts, these additional direct jobs could provide an annual gross exchequer impact of up to €128 million, depending on the nature of investment attracted.> The M20 would deliver improved capacity to serve the external trading and connectivity requirements of businesses and tourism in the South-West Region, including through expanding the catchment areas of Cork and Shannon Airports, and the major ports of Cork and Shannon Foynes.> The scheme would increase the accessibility of the wider South-West and Mid-West Regions for overseas and domestic tourism visitors.> The M20 would deliver social and community bene ts, including reduced stress and improved quality of life for commuters, and enhancing employment opportunities for residents in more remote locations.

11/07/2017

Cork-Limerick motorway could create 5,400 jobs, report says
M20 to open up economic corridor and develop three-city region in west and southwest

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, who is pondering whether or not to prioritise spending on the M20 motorway linking Cork with Limerick.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, who is pondering whether or not to prioritise spending on the M20 motorway linking Cork with Limerick.

Building the long-sought Cork-to-Limerick motorway could create up to 5,400 jobs and contribute €128 million to State coffers, a new report says.

The M20 motorway linking the two cities is one of several projects that Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is tipped to highlight as a Government priority in an announcement on Wednesday.

A report commissioned by Cork and Limerick chambers of commerce states that the motorway could potentially support 4,000 to 5,400 new jobs, which could contribute €128 million to the exchequer.

The study, Gearing up for the M20: A Route to Success, says the road would help create a three-city region, Cork, Limerick and Galway, realising the potential of an economic corridor in the west and southwest.

It would also help open up the southwest, as key routes in that region will intersect with the motorway, which will run from Blarney just outside Cork to Patrickswell on the fringe of Limerick.

Report authors Indecon International Economic Consultants and Red-C Research & Marketing said that traffic had grown to the point where there were too many vehicles using stretches of the existing road, the N20.

Their figures show that an average of 16,361 vehicles travel between Blarney and Mallow every day, 3,500 more than than that section’s capacity, while 14,047 drive between Croom and Patrickswell, 2,447 more than what the stretch can carry.

Prevent accidents

The M20 would cut the journey time from Blarney to Patrickswell by 16 minutes to 47 minutes and prevent about 118 accidents every year, the economists say.

Groups from both cities have lobbied several governments to build the road, but the estimated €850 million construction bill led successive administrations to shelve the project.

Conor Healy, chief executive of the Cork chamber, said the Government could no longer ignore the need for the motorway.

“It is in the national interest that our regional economies expand for Ireland to remain competitive and to complement growth in Dublin,” he said.

Mr Healy added that the M20 should be first on the list of projects to go ahead if the Government boosts infrastructure spending next year.

James Ring, Limerick chamber chief executive, described the M20 as the most significant piece of infrastructure yet to be built in the region.

“Current severe capacity constraints on the N20 are restricting growth potential in our second and third cities, and limit access to business and communities across Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork and up into Galway,” he said.

11/07/2017

A report commissioned by the Cork and Limerick Chambers of Commerce has concluded that no other infrastructure project has the potential to impact as positively on the country as the M20 motorway has.

The chambers say the need for a motorway between the two cities can no longer be ignored or postponed.

The report by Indecon/Red C found that a motorway between the two cities would create an economic corridor providing a balance to development in Dublin.

It would also underpin competitiveness of the southwest and midwest regions, as well as increasing the labour force within a 45-minute commute by 23%.

The report also found that current traffic levels along the current route, the N20, are over 120% of capacity.

Plans for the M20 were shelved by the Government in 2010 due to budgetary constraints.

It was a major issue locally during the 2016 General Election.

The new research also found the M20 would prevent approximately 118 accidents every year, cut travelling time between Blarney and Patrickwell by 16 minutes, and reduce stress and improve the quality of life for commuters.

11/07/2017

€20bn spending plan set to deliver key road projects


The Government is planning to announce a 10-year capital spending plan worth in excess of €20bn, or €2bn a year, which is set to deliver major projects like the long-awaited Cork to Limerick motorway.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will publish their summer economic statement on Wednesday, which will lay out the road map for the capital plan later in the year.

The Cabinet is to hold a special meeting to finally sign off on the plan ahead of its publication and Dáil debate which will be held on Thursday. Key details of the plan, obtained by the Irish Examiner, include:

A dramatic rise in capital spending from 2019, driven by a balanced budget in October;
A Celtic Tiger-style plan which will see major emphasis on road building like the €1bn M20 between Cork and Limerick and other major transport projects like the controversial Metro North;
Higher education “which has been starved of funds” and the health service in terms of increasing capacity are also to be prioritised.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, several Cabinet ministers confirmed the desire to ramp up capital spending from next year, which will be made possible by the first balanced budget in over a decade.

A minister said: “We are more confident now, given the quarterly tax returns at the end of June, than we were. We will see a big ramping up of capital spending.

“European rules look like changing but that is a factor. What is absolutely guaranteed is that we will balance the books in 2018, and that the reason we do, that the space dramatically opens up from 2019.”

When asked what numbers are possible, at least two ministers have confirmed spend is likely to be “between €2bn-€3bn a year for up to 10 years”.

One said: “Instead of Government having a few hundred million to play around with, we are now talking about billions over a sustained period of time and that is while being compliant with the fiscal rules.

“You see once we balance the budget, the apron strings are loosened significantly. We don’t have to answer to Europe at that stage.”

It is not expected that the economic statement will include specific details of individual projects.

The Irish Examiner has learnt Mr Varadkar placed heavy emphasis on road building to connect rural areas and regional cities at a special Cabinet meeting last Thursday. “There was a fair bit of discussion about roads and connecting rural and regional areas by road,” said one minister.

29/05/2017

‘Re-routing the Limerick motorway makes no sense economically’
Concerns have been raised that proposals for the Cork to Limerick motorway will be mothballed or significantly altered in a manner that may not deliver benefits to local communities along the route. Reporter Rob McNamara hears calls for clarity on the project.
CORK TD Seán Sherlock has called on the Transport Minister to “quash rumours” and move the Cork to Limerick motorway to the next stage of development.

Fine Gael leadership candidate Leo Varadkar has pledged to prioritise the Cork to Limerick motorway in the next Capital Plan but Transport Minister Shane Ross appeared to dampen his enthusiasm and said that “creative” solutions are needed to save on the cost of the estimated €800 million project.

The solution Minister Ross refers to is centred around a potential re-routing of the motorway through Cahir in Co Tipperary where it would link up with the Cork-Dublin motorway and thus reduce the overall cost by removing the need to build an entirely new road.

It would mean that towns such as Mallow and Buttevant - originally proposed to be bypassed by the motorway - would see limited benefits from the road and they will remain on the existing main road to Limerick.

The Government’s Capital Plan Mid-Term review, which will revisit priority infrastructure projects up until 2021, is due to be published in September.

In his policy document, Social Protection Minister Varadkar, who is leading the race to become the next Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach said: “The new Capital Plan will allow us to bring forward long-delayed projects like Dublin Metro, the M20 between Cork and Limerick, motorway access to the West and North-West and major investment in our healthcare and educational institutions. It will also enable further investment to tackle our housing needs.”

However, Minister Ross told the Dáil on Tuesday that the project would use up almost all of the Capital investment budget. He added that progressing the project in stages or looking at other solutions would be a preferable course of action but refused to discuss details.

“It would use up virtually the entire allocation... that can’t be done, I’m afraid, that’s the truth,” he said.

“What I wouldn’t rule out in this particular case is creative solutions. When I talk about creative solutions people get alarmed that there is going to be rerouting,” he added.

Seán Sherlock said rerouting via Tipperary the M8 is not a creative solution at all and would be detrimental to the north Cork region and outside finance should be considered to fund the route.

“You have to open up towns like Mallow and Charleville,” he said.

“Economic regional development must be predicated on linking Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Sligo along the Atlantic Corridor axis. An imaginative solution could mean financing this through the European investment bank. We need to move this project to the next stage and quash the rumour mill and have clear language from Minister Ross about what route is to be selected on the basis of common sense.”

Sinn Féin Kanturk-Mallow Councillor Melissa Mullane believes the project may never happen and is being used as an election tool.

“We plead again and again but it just falls on deaf ears. Mallow is a fantastic town and it has huge business, such as Dairygold. The town needs the infrastructure. Buttevant and Charleville are getting bigger also,” she said.

“We can’t bring employment and businesses into an area without proper infrastructure. We’ve been promised it for so long. It’s frightful that coming up to an internal election in Fine Gael that they start promising things. The motorway has always been an election ploy and it never seems to come about. Until I see the first sod being turned I believe it’s a pie in the sky project. It would be devastating for businesses.”

Councillor Gearóid Murphy of Fianna Fáil said re-routing doesn’t make any sense economically, or for the environment. “Taking the motorway back out towards Dublin and then back to Limerick is very shortsighted. I hope it’s just a rumour. The Minister’s comments are not very encouraging,” he said.

“Regionally, it would be really detrimental to the area and would have an environmental impact to re-route the cars through Tipperary when they could take a much shorter route through north Cork and West Limerick.”

Independent John Paul O’Shea said re-routing the motorway would be a huge step backwards for growth in north Cork and the south west region.