Dr. Brian McCann:

I thank the Chairman and other members of the joint committee for hearing our proposals I am a lecturer in the School of Engineering and Design at the Sligo Institute of Technology. I have responsibility there particularly as programme co-ordinator for the postgraduate degree in road and transport engineering.

I am also a member of the Atlantic Economic Corridor Infrastructure Committee and the Industrial Committee of Sligo Chamber of Commerce. Through being involved in those studies, I have researched and produced some information on the expenditure and infrastructure requirements for the Atlantic Corridor but also for the north west, and the need for an expansion of our infrastructure to improve business, community and tourism.

One of the key priorities is to focus on the improvement and upgrading of capacity, safety and journey times of the radial national network to which Mr. Butler alluded. The north, west and north midlands have a population of 650,000. That region, therefore, comprises 14% of the country's total population, yet it is served by only one corridor - the N4 and N5. After Mullingar, those routes are a sub-standard, deficient, single carriageway. There is a motorway as far as Mullingar and the M6 to Galway. After Mullingar, however, the road is sub-standard in terms of capacity, alignment and safety record. Part of that route has been put on a pre-construction and pre-planning phase at the moment. The design and tendering process is coming up this year. We have alluded to those matters in the last three projects under the heading of key priorities.

The first two projects are the first and second priorities due to the fact that we need a safe, consistent and efficient road network to service that region. It needs to be safe as well as reducing journey times, and fitting the potential capacity which is now above the road's current capacity.

As it leaves Dublin at the M50, the M4 is initially a three-plus-three dual carriageway which then goes into a motorway. The motorway has quite a high capacity of more than 50,000. There are about 42,000 vehicles leaving west of Maynooth. Quite quickly, at Kinnegad it diverges towards the M6. We have an extension of a motorway which was an old high-quality dual carriageway that has been upgraded. It now provides a motorway just short of Mullingar.

While we have a dual carriageway taking us around Mullingar, beyond the town we only have a single carriageway, apart from a short section from Rooskey to Dromod, which is a type 2 dual carriageway. The latter road has additional capacity as well as a much improved safety record in terms of its ability to reduce head-on collisions and particularly overtaking accidents and collisions. According to statistics from Transport Infrastructure Ireland we know that such collisions on our national roads network are particularly poor on stretches of the N4 and N5. A number of those sections have twice the number of expected accidents. It also has a potential to create additional congestion. In fact, at times it is very heavily congested.

For example, around the village of Rathowen there are flows as high as 13,000 vehicles per day, according to current figures. The road is a type 1 single carriageway with a capacity of 11,600. That road is therefore already 10% over capacity. There is a growth in transport and population in the north west which is similarly to the national figure of 3% or 4%. We expect future growth due to other factors such as Brexit and increased tourism. Betters routes and shorter travel times have the potential for increased business and commerce.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has also identified the safety record of roads which have a potential for additional accidents due to over-capacity. TII has identified the routes between Westport and Turlough on the N5, and Castlebaldwin to Collooney. They have relatively low flows compared to the Dublin end of the N4, but also have particularly poor safety records. Those roads are well over capacity in many cases. We would like to see those road improvements being progressed to construction stage. From our studies with the groups I am involved with, we have discovered that those projects should go to tender this year. They should go to construction next year and it is essential that that happens.

The policy that should inform the transport sector comes from the Government's own transport infrastructure policy developed in 2015. A document entitled Our Transport Future: Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport was done in consultation with all stakeholders across the country to try to determine how best to inform funding for the national planning framework and the capital expenditure plan. That document was published in August 2015 and contained a number of high-level findings and priorities. The first was that current funding levels are not sufficient to maintain the existing land transport network across the country. The document also said that we need to invest more to maximise the contribution of land transport to our country's national development by enhancing the efficiency of the network.

The third priority is to provide road access to poorly served regions. That is current Government policy as contained in the Department's own infrastructure report on investment in land transport. The document also sought to support identified national and regional spatial planning priorities. The national planning framework has a regional focus. While we can improve transport across the regions and thus provide business opportunities, the radial network must be completed. The most efficient one I have discovered is the N4-N5 route to the north west and north midlands. Unless that is done, we will certainly have a poorly served region which will be further inhibited by a lack of access to necessary public services. In addition, there will be a lack of access for tourism with a consequent negative effect on business promotion in the region.

The Government's own report has identified such development as a priority for safety and infrastructural investment. Engineers Ireland has also identified high quality infrastructure as an important element of modern society, strengthening economic growth and underpinning social cohesion.

Congestion and pollution is occurring in the south east and the greater Dublin area. We feel there is a lot of potential for businesses to relocate to, and new businesses to set up in, the north west if they have the proper infrastructure, shorter journey times and safer roads. People who want to move to those areas feel that the level of isolation needs to be reduced by having shorter journey times. They would thus be closer to services, including new centres of excellence in education and health. These matters are important for the general public.

Our recommendations are for the radial primary route network from Dublin to be completed with the deficient N4 and N5 upgraded to dual carriageway status by an extension of the M4 from Mullingar to Longford. That project has effectively been suspended, although it was in the national development plan. A key part of the national spatial strategy was to develop that radial network. We feel it is now time to put that back in the capital expenditure plan and to extend the current motorway just short of Mullingar right through to Longford.

The N5 branches off a Longford, so we need an appropriate dual carriageway road type for all proposed road schemes. That is the proposal but it needs to be done by a type 1 or type 2 road right through to Longford, Sligo and Westport. That will help to improve the safety and efficiency of transit for the population, tourism and business in the region and the wider economy.

We do not know what will happen in the aftermath of Brexit. However, there is likely to be a transfer of traffic from the N2 and N3, which currently serve Donegal, for example, through the North. There will be two Border crossings required as a result. That traffic is likely to transfer to the N4, which is a route that does not involve crossing the Border. The Border will be an EU frontier following Brexit. We do not know what is likely to happen regarding other factors but there will be some transfer of traffic. The current figures and the projected figures up to 2030 are likely to increase following Brexit. People in both south and north Donegal are likely to use the N4 as their main route.