John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State who I am sure is familiar with the N11 road which runs through my constituency of Wicklow. It is gridlocked most days - both northbound and southbound - with people commuting from working in the city centre and people going about their daily lives. In the national development plan, there was a commitment to carry out a major upgrade - a critical upgrade - to the N11 and a considerable amount of work was done to bring forward a plan to see that major upgrade.

Unfortunately, due to ideological reasons on the part of the former Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, funding at the end of phase 2 was pulled for that major upgrade scheme in 2022. In its place, we have what is called the N11-M11 bus priority interim scheme along the N11, which goes southbound as far as the Glen of the Downs. I am all for public transport but I am also all for common sense and unfortunately, what we are seeing in the proposal is not common sense. The proposal put forward by TII, Wicklow County Council and other bodies behind this project, plans to close off a critical artery that runs into Bray, namely, the Herbert Road, by closing both access on and off the N11 via the Herbert Road.

The Herbert Road is a vital artery that runs into Bray. There are only four major roads in and out of the town and the Herbert Road is one of them. There is chronic congestion within the town of Bray at present and the Herbert Road acts as a release mechanism. It helps alleviate much of the traffic and congestion in the town centre, allowing people coming home from work, going to school, going to work, etc., to bypass the town centre and come in off the N11 via the Herbert Road.

Despite a public consultation process in which thousands of submissions were made, including a number of petitions containing more than 4,500 signatures both from residents and businesses in the town voicing their complete opposition to the closure of the Herbert Road, at the end of phase 2 and the publication of the option selection report which came out in April of this year, all those concerns voiced by the many thousands of residents, businesses and other people who use the road unfortunately fell on deaf ears. In that report, it was still recommended to move forward to phase 3 and to close off the Herbert Road.

I cannot tell the Minister of State enough how important that road is to the residents of the area. A couple of years ago, the road was closed off to allow for some critical works to be carried out. A pedestrian crossing, public lighting, etc., were put in and that access point was closed off for a couple months to facilitate that work. It brought not just the localised area around that section of the Herbert Road to a gridlock but also the entire town of Bray.

The Minister of State has the power, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has the power at this stage at the end of phase 2 to intervene, similarly to what Eamon Ryan did when he was Minister, to stop this illogical, nonsensical and crazy proposal at this stage and to allow common sense to prevail.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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My apologies, I was not here at the very start. I thank Deputy Brady for raising this matter.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding regarding the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for TII in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country, as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects which are already in construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of several other projects. As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, there is a constraint on the funding available for new projects in 2025. Approximately €502 million in Exchequer capital funds, however, has been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2025.

With regard to the N11 bus priority interim scheme, this important project commenced in October 2021 following the completion of an initial feasibility study. The aim is to provide bus priority measures on the N11 and M11, enabling buses and coaches to avoid congested traffic lanes and reduce the unsustainable dependency on the private car in the short to medium term. The project was allocated €1.45 million for this year to enable it to progress. Wicklow County Council is now working on closing out the preferred option for the combined scheme.

The public consultation for the emerging preferred option was held from 12 September to 6 November 2023. I understand from TII that all submissions were considered and detailed traffic modelling was conducted to inform the preferred option. A significant upgrade of junction 7 is proposed that will address the traffic reassignment arising from the impact of closing Herbert Road, which is required to provide bus priority in the hard shoulder between junctions 6 and 7. This is also intended to improve road safety for all users on the N11 and M11.

Wicklow County Council has commenced design and environmental evaluation. The option selection report includes the full rationale and detailed assessment carried out in determining the preferred option. The report was published on the project website in April and is now available to view.

It is important to highlight the N11 and M11 route is identified within the NTA’s transport strategy for the greater Dublin area, GDA, 2022 to 2042 strategy, as a regional core bus corridor as part of the core bus network. To develop an efficient, reliable and effective bus system, the strategy emphasises the need for the core bus network to be developed to achieve: continuous priority for bus movement on the portions of the core bus network; enhanced bus lane provisions on these corridors; and removal of current delays on the bus network, enabling the bus to provide a faster alternative to car traffic along these routes.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate the Minister of State's response and while I acknowledge he is reading from information he has been given, unfortunately, it will not be much comfort - if any comfort at all - to the residents in Bray who are seriously concerned about the closure of this junction and the impact it will have. As for hearing one of the intentions regarding closing the road is to improve road safety for all users of the N11 and M11, it could not be further from the truth because the Herbert Road junction actually alleviates a lot of the pressures on the N11.

I dare the Minister, the Minister of State or Darragh O'Brien to get a Garda report to see how many road traffic accidents have actually happened at that junction. I cannot recall any accidents whatsoever there, so what was said was a false argument.

Unfortunately, the €1.45 million that is being spent on the project this year is a waste of money. so it needs to stop now. Bray is due to expand considerably over the coming years. Thousands of new homes are being built in the town centre. Junction 7 is gridlocked as it is. Building a larger roundabout is being proposed, but look at the Red Cow roundabout and the challenges it has. The same will happen with junction 7 if one of the vital arteries in and out of the town closes. Common sense needs to prevail. A bus corridor can go ahead without the junction closing. I do not believe it is a case of one or the other. The two can go ahead. There is an engineering solution to this issue that would be acceptable to everyone. The residents want their voices heard. They do not feel their voices have been heard in the consultation process. Will the Minister of State agree to meet a small delegation of the residents and listen first hand to their experience as well as to their concerns and fears about this scheme going ahead and the impact it will have on them and their livelihoods?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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A benefit of doing this project will be to improve the congestion issues faced by road users by increasing capacity on the existing route and identifying opportunities for bus priority measures. This will allow for more reliable and safer journeys for commuters and vulnerable road users. It aims to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions along this route. The proposed project will improve connectivity between Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort, allowing efficient and greater access to international markets from Ireland. In addition, the project may include the provision of improved active transport facilities and opportunities for greater interface with public transport along the N11, which will have positive environmental effects. There are benefits to this project.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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People will be stuck in traffic.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The current status of the project is to provide for the bus priority measures, active travel, junction safety and strategic network resilience on the N11-M11 between junctions 4 and 14. This major scheme is at the options selection phase - preferred route open selection. It is important that we look at this in the context that it is being delivered by TII in conjunction with Wicklow County Council. Wicklow County Council considered all submissions received when assessing the various options.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I asked about meeting a delegation of the residents. Unfortunately, the county council and TII are not listening to the public representatives or the residents.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Okay. The Deputy put his question.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I asked the Minister of State about meeting the residents. There are still 27 seconds of time remaining for the Minister of State to respond.