ROUTE SELECTION

A summary of the route selection process and the basis for selecting the chosen route for each Section may be found in the EIS [Environmental Impact Statement Volume 1 (Non-Technical Summary)]. However, as most interest is in the area of Dunshaughlin to Navan (Section 2), this is dealt with in detail here.

DUNSHAUGHLIN TO NAVAN (SECTION 2)

When considering the route between Dunshaughlin and Navan it was important to ensure the road connected with the other sections to the south and north.

ROUTE OPTIONS

The route selection report for M3 Dunshaughlin to Navan was issued in September 2001 with ten possible route options identified.

M3 Section 2 Dunshaughlin - Navan Route Selection: Emerging Preferred Route

 These were:

• Orange (O) - one option of O1 (west of Hill of Tara).
• Green (G) - three options of G1, G2 and G3 (between the Hill of Tara and the existing N3).
• Blue (B) - four options of B1, B2, B3 and B4 (to the east of the present N3, between Tara and Skryne). [There are two spellings for Skryne, the modern village is usually spelled Skryne while the townland and archaeological sites are spelled Skreen.]
• Pink (P) - two options of P1 and P2 (east of Skryne).

These ten potential routes formed two basic route corridors either side of Navan.

M3 Section 2 Dunshaughlin -Navan Route Selection: Basic Route Corridors

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT'S COMMENT ON THE PREFERRED ROUTE

"Route B2, B3 and B4, although they pass between Tara and Skreen, are less likely to disturb later prehistoric material associated with Tara, and are further from Tara itself than the existing N3. If they can be designed to avoid the monuments along their routes, these three routes could also be considered viable from an archaeologial perspective. Other mitigation, in the form of screening the road from Tara and Skreen, would ensure the minimum impact on the surrounding archaeological landscape."

Dr Annaba Kilfeather, Margaret Gowen & Co Ltd
Route Selection: Archaeology 2000.

SUMMARY OF ROUTE SELECTION PROCESS: DUNSHAUGHLIN TO NAVAN (SECTION 2)

• Engineering considerations
  There is little to choose from between the ten (east and west of Navan) Route Options in terms of design standards and safety. The Pink, Green 2 and Blue 3 routes were longer and disrupt the greatest number of side roads (all of which would need upgrading) and as such, are less desirable from an engineering viewpoint.
• Economic considerations
  All routes provide very high economic benefits due to traffic travelling towards and away from Dublin/M50. The Pink and Orange routes are best for through traffic, although the remoteness of the interchanges may discourage local drivers from using them. The Blue Route, with junctions on the existing main road network, would catch more local (Navan) traffic.
• Environmental considerations
  A major environmental consideration is the Hill of Tara, undoubtedly one of the most significant archaeological sites in Ireland. The proximity of the Green and Blue 1 routes, together with the associated interchanges, make these options very undesirable. In addition, the Orange Route would have a severe impact on the visual landscape around Tara and would, consequently, be very damaging to the setting of the Hill.
  
  Environmental issues and the effects on the local population were really the key route selection criteria. In this respect, the Orange and Pink route options suffer significantly through their location relative to the existing road network. In both cases the country roads running between the proposed Orange or Pink interchanges and the existing N3 would experience very significant traffic increases. Also, both Orange and Pink routes impact severely on populated areas such as Dunsany, Kilmessan, Skryne, Collierstown and Philpotstown, all of which would suffer severance and increased air/noise pollution due to increased traffic flows.
• Conclusion
  The Blue Route 2 was selected as the preferred option as it was considered to have the least impact on the local community and to be viable from an archaeological perspective, compared to the alternatives. Blue Route 2 did not have remote junction locations and thus there was no requirement to provide connections to such junctions. It also had least impact on minor roads.
  
  Since the Blue Route 2 was approved by An Bord Pleanála after the Motorway Scheme and EIS Oral Hearing, it now has legal status as the most appropriate route for the proposed road, taking everything into consideration. The archaeological test trenching undertaken in 2004 has not revealed any archaeological sites that would be considered unexpected on any similar sized road scheme anywhere in Meath. As such Blue Route 2 is still considered the best option between Dunshaughlin and Navan.

FURTHER DETAIL ON THE ROUTE SELECTION PROCESS FOR SECTION 2

Business and residential developments along with zoned land on the eastern side of Navan meant an eastern bypass would have to be considerably longer and have a considerably greater impact on the environment than a western option. As such, the western bypass option was the most viable, so only those proposed routes passing to the west of Navan are discussed below. Consequently Blue Route 4, Pink Route 2 and Green Route 3 are not discussed. This reduces the original ten options to seven.

• Orange Route 1
  The view to the west from the Hill of Tara encompasses the Central Plain and extends to east Galway. The Orange Route would lie in full view of this panorama, passing very close to several large archaeological sites, including Ringlestown Rath, as well as the villages of Dunsany and Kilmessan.
  
  The Orange Route would therefore have a significant impact on the setting of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex as well as a significant impact on local communities. Meath County Council's consultants stated that the Orange Route was not a viable option. Dúchas (now National Monuments Section of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government [DoEHLG]) felt that the Orange Route would cause severance of the River Boyne at a new location (through building a bridge where none previously existed). It was also felt there was very high potential for uncovering archaeological sites to the west of the Hill of Tara.
• Green Route 1 and 2
  From the north of Dunshaughlin, the Green Route kept to the west of the existing N3 and passed midway between the present N3 and the monuments on the Hill of Tara. Dúchas clearly stated that no road could be allowed to go so close to the Hill of Tara.
• Blue Route
  The Blue Route starts from the north of Dunshaughlin, crosses to the eastern side of the present N3 at Roestown, then passes from Berrillstown to Baronstown near Skryne. It then splits into a number of options to pass down the Gabhra valley between the existing N3 and Skryne. Dúchas acknowledged that the Blue routes between the N3 and Skryne were likely to encounter more archaeology than to the east of Skryne, but accepted that any potential impact could be mitigated by prudent design of the final alignment to avoid known sites.
• Blue Route 1:
  Blue Route 1 sweeps around the northern side of the Hill of Tara, entering the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) zone of protection on this side. Meath County Council's consultants stated that the Blue route 1 was not a viable option.
• Blue Route 2:
  Blue Route 2 lies in a curve over 2km away from the summit of the Hill of Tara (at its closest point 1.2km beyond the recorded archaeological zone of Tara [RMP ME031-033 and ME037-002, 008, and 032]). It passes close to Lismullin House and then swings round to connect with the existing N3 before proceeding to cross the River Boyne near Ballinter Bridge. The route passes in the vicinity of, but has no direct impact on the known archaeology of the Gabhra valley between Tara and Skryne.
  
  Meath County Council's consultants determined that the Blue 2 route was a viable option as long as there was appropriate mitigation. Blue Route 2 became the chosen route brought forward for Environmental Impact Assessment.
• Blue Route 3:
  Blue Route 3 was very similar to Blue Route 2, but had an alternative crossing point for the River Boyne. Blue Route 3 would pass Lismullin House and continue north, crossing the Boyne at Corballis-Ardsallagh using a high level suspension type bridge.
  
  Meath County Council's consultants determined that the Blue Route 3 was not a viable option mainly due to the large size of the bridge needed midway between the existing Kilcarn and Ballinter bridges; an area where no bridge has previously existed. The construction of a bridge at such a location would involve significant visual impact on the landscape.
• Pink Route 1
  The Pink Route passes to the east of Skryne. From a desk based archaeological perspective, Meath County Council's consultants stated that the Pink Route had the least impact on the Hill of Tara, due to its relatively distant location (4km from the hilltop of Tara). Dúchas also agreed that the Pink Route option was preferred in relation to archaeology.
  
  The Pink Route is, however, remote from the existing N3, necessitating local road upgrading and additional link roads connecting the new motorway to the existing N3 Dublin-Navan Road. The increased footprints necessitated by such upgrades and link roads would have more extensive environmental implications than the Blue Route 2. It also has a severe impact on the village of Skryne with its associated residential areas and local roads. The Pink Route passes very close to the zone of archaeological protection around Skreen (450m from RMP ME032-047). Due to a large spur of land to the north of Skryne, the Pink Route uses the undesirable River Boyne crossing at Corballis-Ardsallagh (as Blue Route 3 above).
  
  Meath County Council's consultants determined that the Pink Route was not a viable option given the impact on the local communities and the remoteness of the route relative to the existing N3.
  

PINK ROUTE VERSUS BLUE ROUTE 2

There have been claims that the Pink Route constitutes a better alternative to Blue Route 2. On a balanced assessment of all the relevant factors, Blue Route 2 significantly out performs the Pink Route. The following comments relate to a comparison of the Blue 2 and Pink 1 routes in an attempt to explain further why the Blue Route 2 is the best available option when all relevant considerations are taken into account as required by the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment.

Archaeology
Based on the desk survey of recorded archaeology and field inspection, the Pink Route is less intrusive than Blue Route 2 on the archaeological setting of Tara, as the Pink Route is hidden from the Hill of Tara by the Hill of Skreen. However, as Blue Route 2 is positioned in the base of the valley between Tara and Skryne, it will be well hidden by the topography of the areas, supplemented by the effects of hedgerows and landscaping. The proposed N3/M3 interchange at Blundelstown will only be visible from the vicinity of the northern end of the Hill, due to the natural curve of the Tara hilltop. As such the visible impact of the Blue Route 2 on the Hill of Tara cannot be described as significant.

In terms of location, Blue Route 2 is over 2km from the Tara hilltop, whilst the Pink Route is 4km from it. Both routes lie within an area always considered to be potentially rich in sub-surface archaeological remains.

While the Pink Route was the preferred option from a solely archaeological point of view, the Blue Route 2 between the present N3 and Skryne was also considered acceptable, as long as it incorporated appropriate mitigation and prudent design.

Community impacts
The Blue Route 2 performs better than the Pink Route in terms of impacts on people, homes, farms and communities. There are 80 properties within 300m of Blue Route 2 which may be impacted by noise. There are almost three times this number, 218 properties, within the same distance of the Pink route, most of these, including a school, in and around the village of Skryne. Thirty-five of these properties are within 25m of the centre line of the Pink Route some of which would have to be demolished for the motorway. The effect on the local population of a new motorway near Skryne would be severe in terms of visual impact, farm land and community severance, house demolitions, increased air pollution and noise levels.

Remoteness
Another drawback with the Pink Route is its remoteness from the present N3, which would lead to difficulties linking traffic from the existing network to the new motorway. The Pink Route would require the construction of several new roads and a split N3/M3 junction. Furthermore, the existing local road network would need to be radically upgraded, resulting in significant impacts for residents in terms of reduced accessibility, increased traffic, more road closures and increased severance.

As the Blue Route 2 option can provide a single, sustainable N3/M3 junction on the present N3, disruption to the existing local road network will be minimal. Blue Route 2 there will reduce traffic on local roads and entail less construction or operational air/noise impacts.

Boyne crossing
The Pink Route crosses the River Boyne at a less advantageous location than Blue Route 2. Due to the wide and shallow nature of the Boyne valley near Ballinter Bridge, Blue Route 2 can cross the river at a low level, in an area where there is already a bridge over the Boyne. Due to the length of crossing needed for the Pink Route, a cable-stayed or suspension type bridge would be required. Such a bridge would be highly visible in the landscape at a location where there is no existing river crossing point.

Back to Top