10 signatures reached
To: Minister for Transport, Wicklow County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Defund the Glen of the Downs car tunnel - invest in public transport for Wicklow and Wexford instead
Put a stop to the proposal to build a huge road tunnel underneath Glen of the Downs as well as other efforts to add lanes to the N11/M11/M50.
Don't throw good money after bad on a proposal that will increase car use, increase emissions and increase congestion on all surrounding roads.
Instead, invest these funds into ambitious public transport projects such as increased rail and bus services from Dublin to Wicklow and Wexford. If a tunnel can be considered for cars, then a tunnel can be built for passenger and freight rail.
Why is this important?
We are in a climate emergency and Ireland has the highest transport emissions per capita in the EU. This project to increase capacity for more motorists on the M11 was dreamed up in 2018 as part of the last government's road expansion programme. It is a proposal that denies the seriousness of the climate crisis.
This project has not entered the design phase yet so there is still time to cancel it and divert the remaining funds into solutions that will actually work to decrease congestion, decrease Ireland's transport emissions and decrease all of the other effects of releasing tens of thousands more cars onto the roads of the greater Dublin area every day.
Email the Minister for Transport and Climate Action to let him know that you think this is disastrous for our climate ambitions: [email protected]
If you live in Wicklow, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown or Wexford, contact your local TDs and councillors to let them know that this money would be better spent on public transport which would provide lasting improvements for commuting and for quality of life: https://www.whoismytd.com
Further reading:
"New road capacity attracts new drivers. In the short term, people who had previously been discouraged from using congested roads start to use them."
https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-does-building-and-expanding-motorways-really-reduce-congestion-and-emissions-147024
"for every 1 percent increase in highway capacity, traffic increases 0.29 to 1.1 percent in the long term (about five years out), and up to 0.68 percent in the short term (one or two years)."
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/06/21/the-science-is-clear-more-highways-equals-more-traffic-why-are-dots-still-ignoring-it/
"But even after spending €1 billion on these works, the M50 will remain as congested as ever, as the National Roads Authority (NRA) has conceded." (2006)
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/building-new-roads-won-t-solve-m50-traffic-problem-1.1014217