Road to nowhere for businesses impacted by Cork-Limerick upgrade
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Those impacted by the upgrade of the road between the country's second and third cities know you can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs.
They fully agree something has to be done to cut down on the number of fatalities on the Cork–Limerick road. However, they also maintain the upgrade being planned is going to seriously impact livelihoods, health and the environment and many of them see a better way of solving the problem.
One of those who will suffer most is Liam Mackessy, who runs a 98-acre beef suckler farm on the western side of Charleville.
His land is long and narrow and earmarked for the new road. A 500m-wide corridor is being set aside by the road project team for the whole 80km stretch between the two cities, which will include a segregated walkway/cycleway.
A 500m wide corridor running through Liam’s land will make his farm inoperable. His property bounds the main Charvleville–Newtownshandrum road. A flyover will have to be built over it.
This means massive earth embankments will have to be constructed on his farm to raise the road enough to connect with the flyover. They're estimated to be 5m high and will be extremely close to the gable end of his house.
The road will also necessitate the demolition of four sheds and a grain silo. A well for the cattle will also have to go.
The Mackessy’s have farmed there for three generations and his late mother, Mary, spent years before her death in 2019 battling to stop the road coming through there. The family said she spent a small fortune on experts to prevent it.
Liam’s sister, Breda, said they were upset to recently get letters about the proposed project from its designers which were addressed to their late mother.
Breda’s also has a letter in her possession, from the same sources, directed to their brother, Michael. He died in a farming accident in 2013.
Breda said they've pointed this out to the senders and hope it will never happen again. “It’s not very pleasant,” she said.
The brother and sister are in favour of a bypass of the town, noting it would make it safer. They also feel the road is in the wrong place. They say it should be to the eastern side of the town as that’s where all the big industry is, and where the vast majority of the HGV which will travel specifically into Charleville go.
Liam said:
He’s now awaiting the CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) process, and not looking forward to it.
Liam also thinks it somewhat ironic that a greenway will form part of the corridor, right next to the new highway with the pollution coming from passing cars and trucks hitting its users first. “To me that doesn’t make sense, it’s hardly green then, is it?” he said.
“I wonder do you even need motorways now. There are more people working from home since Covid. People are also making fewer trips because of the rising price of petrol and diesel,” Breda said.
They're also concerned that, as yet, not one of the project team has called to them in person to explain the situation on the ground.
“We have had to log onto zoom calls to see what’s happening. The wifi is scandalous here. There will be a lot of older people impacted who don’t even know how to operate a computer. They have to make appointments to go and meet the (project team) people in Cork or Limerick. I want to know why they can’t come here and meet us,” Breda said.
Brian Hyde, chairman of the Cork-Limerick Alliance, which was set up to fight the motorway plan, points out that 700 property owners will be impacted by the road up-grade and many will be farmers like Liam.
He and a lot of his members think the best and cheaper option is to run a link to Limerick off the M8 (Cork-Dublin motorway) at Cahir or Mitchelstown and build bypasses around Buttevant and Charleville.
Mr Hyde said just 3,000 vehicles a day make a complete journey between Cork and Limerick. The rest, of which there are a lot more, make smaller commutes between adjoining towns and villages to both cities.
He believes it doesn’t make economic sense to build a massive new road for such small numbers. He also doesn't believe the road will be built for €1.5bn being quoted.
"Even if they build the road we'll still have safety issues with the current road. People will still use that and as we know the Ballybeg bends, south of Buttevant, are very dangerous. Why not bypass them now?"
Johnny Hannan, a retired civil engineer with 33 years’ experience, agrees with Mr Hyde.
“A northern relief road for Mallow is planned. A flyover could be built over the two roundabouts in Mallow (on the Cork-Dublin road).
He also questions why steel cables couldn’t be inserted on sections of the road, as they are in the Rathduff and Grenagh areas, which prevent overtaking in dangerous places.
The cables make these some of the safest sections along the entire current route.
The proposed bypass of Mallow will run to the eastern side of the town and through a picturesque valley in the Rahan area, which is about halfway between the town and the village of Killavullen.
It’s in Rahan that Mr Hannan’s son, Colin, runs the Glen Aire horse-riding stables. His business is going to be badly affected as part of his land will be swallowed up by the new highway.
He provides riding lessons for around 200 people a week. Importantly, he and his team specialises in providing horse riding therapy services for children and adults with autism and sensory issues.
Some of these clients travel long distances to attend the riding school because of the knowledge and experience Glen Aire has.
Groups also regularly attend from St Joseph’s Foundation in Charleville, HOPE Montessori in Cork City, along with the early intervention schools in Mallow and its surrounding towns.
“We know from the reports of the health professionals our clients attend, how important riding and interaction with the horses and ponies is for them. It leads to significant improvements in their development, behaviour and overall wellbeing,” Colin said.
Aisling Crowley says Glen Aire has been a "game-changer" for her young son, Joshua.
“His diagnosis of ASD means he requires several therapies every week. Time on horse-back for the purpose of regulation is essential for him.
"The thought of possibly losing such a niche and critical service on a permanent basis fills me with anxiety. I have no shame in saying I honestly couldn’t cope with the long-term effect it would have on Joshua and our household,” she said.
Colin is concerned the sound of heavy construction machinery will impact on both the horses and these children.
He understands up to 22 acres of his property will be taken by the road and this will cut down significantly on the horse trails he has.
“The trails business will be severely impacted. We stable about 40 horses here permanently for their owners and I could see damage being done to that part of the business as well. The land that will be taken up generates a lot of hay for the horses during the winters and so I’d have to then buy it in,” he said.
Colin is also worried about air and noise pollution and ‘liquid run-off’ from the new highway, which will be elevated (on stilts) above his land.
"We have a large stream here which is a tributary of the River Blackwater. There will be a huge run-off from the motorway which could enter it.
"Air pollution is a factor, because the wind predominantly blows from east to west across the valley. There will also be noise during construction and from traffic when it’s opened."
Eileen Forde runs a cattle and sheep farm across the other side of the valley at Knockpogue. She's operated it for the past nine years, after being left the land by her late uncle.
Almost immediately she set about reducing her stock and planting new trees. She said she was following the advice of the Government on biodiversity, but this is about to backfire.
She has around 60 acres and planted approximately 10 acres of that nine years ago with oak trees, which are maturing nicely.
Unfortunately, they look to be right in the path of the planned highway, or at least that’s what the road designers’ are telling her is likely.
“This is a terrible shame. They will have to go. We were told to grow trees and cut down on our stock for biodiversity reasons and now this is what happens,” she said.
If the highway goes ahead as currently planned, it will be as close as 250m to Rahan National School, which many parents of children attending believe is far too close, especially as it will be elevated.
The amount of noise and air pollution during the construction period and when it's open is going to be extremely disruptive for the children and the school community, according to Rahan National School Parents’ Association.
The school is in a beautiful rural location overlooking the valley — a tranquil view which parents say will be torn apart by the new road.
“We are disappointed and very concerned about the proposed new road location cutting right through the valley next to the school,” Leona O’Regan of Rahan National School Parents' Association said.
"Preserving and appreciating our beautiful countryside is central to our school community. We are extremely concerned about the noise and air pollution that the proposed new road will bring to the area, particularly being so close to the schoolyard where the children will be playing,” she said.
The school community has just raised €30,000 to develop a badly needed new play area.
In March, the community got together over a weekend to plant nearly 1,500 native Irish trees in the school grounds to develop a new 1.5 acres bio-diversity trail for the pupils to enjoy and learn more about nature.
Ms O’Regan said the parents’ association members are devastated to think that it will all have been in vain if the new road goes ahead.
Lisa Geary, who has two children attending the national school, is a committed environmentalist seriously concerned about the impact of the new road on the fauna and flora of the area.
“I strongly support the aim to improve travel times on the existing N20 and to make it safer, but I'm absolutely appalled by the approach the planners are taking. There has been next to no consideration for the environment in this entire plan. It was the same 12 years ago. It’s just hard to believe that nothing has changed — more than a decade on — at a time when the climate crisis is raging,” Ms Geary said.
She pointed out there are many protected species in the area, with six of them in the Blackwater River alone.
The river has been designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under EU Law.
“Building the proposed new bridge over the Blackwater is going to release an incredible amount of silt and no amount of so-called mitigation is going to prevent that. It will kill or severely harm those species,” Ms Geary claimed.