Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being with us. I am sorry the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is not here but I am sure the Minister of State will bring some good news.

For over 40 years, the good people of Athy and its surrounds have waited in hope, expectation and often desperation for a new relief road. Over those 40 years, there have been many false dawns and promises but, finally, in October 2017, for the first time ever, the proposed road was granted planning permission. Since first being elected as a public representative, this has been the number one issue for me and the people I represent. At a special meeting for councillors in early 2018, following confirmation of the planning permission, we were informed by Kildare County Council that land acquisition would begin later that year with pre-evaluation of tenders in early 2019 and that the main tender would be awarded in quarter 3 of 2019. The main road was due to commence in quarter 1 of 2020, with the road due to open in quarter 1 of 2022, or so we were told.

During this time, I and all the public representatives in Athy continued to raise this matter at each council meeting. Indeed, it is a standing item each month on the agenda. Month after month we asked if there was any problem with funding, timelines or obstacles to the opening of this much-needed road and month after month we were told there were none. We are fully aware that we are in a pandemic which visited our shores in early 2020 and continues to dominate and affect everything we do. However, alarm bells have been going off every month since the beginning of this pandemic as I was told that there were Covid delays, but nothing major, and that the road was on target, albeit progress would be delayed by a number of months. The alarm bells grew louder in the past two months when I learned that the project has not advanced to the tender stage. We are now a full year behind schedule. I, along with colleagues, was hearing about Covid-enforced delays and, most alarmingly, new demands from the Department of Transport.

At yesterday's Athy municipal district meeting, my colleagues, Councillors Breslin and Lee, along with all the councillors present, were told by officials that the Department of Transport had recently informed the council of changes to the procedures with the Athy distributor road. The invitation to tender documents has now been referred to the Department, with no clear timelines in place for proceeding to the next stage of the project. That is not good enough and totally unacceptable.

The provision of this road has held up the progress of our town for years. It is currently holding up a €3 million redevelopment of Emily Square in the centre of the town because a one-way system cannot go ahead without the new road. It is also holding up the provision of a 3.4 km cycle lane and over 7 km of new footpaths, due to be provided as part of the road. It is potentially holding up community playing fields in the town, so badly needed by the town's sports clubs, and is holding up safer access to the town's train station for some of the over 40% of the population who leave the town each morning to go to work.

Most importantly, this is about the future of a great town, one which has faced great obstacles in trying to attract industry and commerce against traffic delays of more than an hour most days, as traffic snarls trying to travel just 2.5 km through the town and over its only bridge. It is about the quality of life for parents who have no option but to wait in traffic for over an hour each morning trying to get their loved ones to school or those trying to get to work, adding to the stress of all involved.

The road, experts tell us, would reduce traffic in the town by 50%, provide over 3.4 km of segregated cycle track and 7 km of footpath and give rise, the council estimates, to €6.1 million in safety benefits resulting from a reduced number of collisions. Stage 1 of the tender process has been completed with, I am told, six contractors qualified to tender for the main works contracts. A series of advanced works contracts has been completed and I am told a significant proportion of land compensation packages have been agreed.

When will Kildare County Council be given the go-ahead to proceed to stage 2 of the tender process and issue the main works contract? Most importantly, when will the people of Athy be able to travel along their new road, use the proposed cycle lanes and footpaths and when will the traffic that has held back this town for too long almost disappear? When can those interested in investing in this town expect to see completed the almost €50 million worth of works which are dependent on this road and which have been promised, modernising this great old town and allowing it to breath again? The people of Athy cannot wait any longer.