Speech by Martin Cullen TD Minister for Transport At the sod turning for Carlow Bypass

Date: 11 May 2006

Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here in Carlow today to join in celebrating the start of work on the town's Bypass. As a Minister from the South East, I am all too keenly aware of the significance of this project, not just for people living and working in Carlow, but for all the people of Waterford, Kilkenny, Kildare, Dublin and beyond.

Because today is not just the start of the Carlow bypass, it is also the start of the N9 Waterford to Dublin motorway, a central project in our Transport 21 programme, something I will return to shortly.

Carlow Bypass

In approximately 24 months time, the Carlow bypass opens to traffic. For so many, whether its people on their way to work, families going about their daily lives or tourists on their travels all will gain from the Carlow Bypass.

It will mean time savings of 30 minutes to people in peak time journeys. 9,000 vehicles a day, many of them large trucks, will be removed from Carlow town, freeing up streets like Barrack Street, Tullow Street and Dublin Street. It is also important to emphasise again that better roads have a huge road safety dividend.

As someone who travels through Carlow on a weekly basis, I am struck every time by the improvements in the town and county. Services are better, infrastructure is better, houses are better. As a result, Carlow is an increasingly popular place to live and work.

These improvements have created additional needs. With a growing population, demands on transport services in particular have grown. Fianna Fáil's priority in Government is to deliver policies that tackle these challenges and in doing so, make life easier for commuters thereby enhancing the quality of life for the people of this and every county.

As the region's sole Cabinet member, I have a special duty to the South-East which complements my national responsibilities as Minister for Transport. I have no apologies to make for seeking to bring about positive change in the South-East. It is in the best interests not only of Carlow and the South-East but also of the entire country.Projects like this are not just about tarmac, diggers or concrete. We are not building roads to admire them - we are building them because they make it possible to protect and grow job opportunities and to protect and grow community life in all parts of our country.

The N9

Which is why the N9 is such a critical development. Inside the next three and a half years, we will build 110km of new road from Waterford to Dublin and in doing so, transform the lives of people who have been taking this journey for many years.

The Carlow Bypass becomes the second leg of the N9 to have started, with the Waterford City Bypass now also in construction. The Carlow to Waterford section is next, with work to start on the first stage of this section later this year. The final leg, Carlow to Kilcullen and Carlow to Knocktopher which are well advanced and through statutory procedure stage, will follow. These projects and the newly improved Naas Road only weeks away from completion, mean that by 2010, 56-minutes will be knocked off the journey from Waterford to Dublin. That's real improvement.

Carlow Transport

The Carlow Bypass is a key development in achieving real positive change for people here in Carlow. But we are making real progress on other fronts too.

As I just mentioned, the Naas Road Widening scheme, offering three lanes in both directions, removing the existing traffic lights at Kill and Johnstown and putting in three new interchanges will offer real improvements to Carlow people who travel to and from Dublin.

On rail, the Carlow service is in better shape than it has been in years, with more improvements to come. The move to 'clockface timetables' mean a train service from Carlow to Dublin will be available every two hours every day.

Next year will see new rail carriages for Carlow train users, making ours the most modern rail fleet in Europe. Features of the new railcars include fully air-conditioned carriages, internal CCTV for improved security, modern catering facilities, individual base seating and improved accessibility for mobility-impaired customers. This will make journeys safer, easier, better.

Unquestionably, the profile of commuters using rail services from Carlow is changing. With rail, we have to look at how we provide services from towns like Carlow differently to maybe how we have in the past. That is why last March, we introduced a new service for commuters, meaning in addition to existing services, people have the choice of an early morning train.

Conclusion

Improvements like this are at the core of our Transport 21 programme. When the programme is completed, Ireland will, for the first time, have a modern infrastructure to support economic and social life.

Similar benefits are being mirrored across the country. As every cent is invested, as every project opens, the Government's roads programme is making a difference in people's lives.

With the Carlow Bypass now starting, it means work is underway on 25 road projects totalling 234kms. Work will start on 15 new projects this year, trebling the average number of starts in the past three years. 13 other key projects will also be completed this year. And crucially, we are delivering projects, on budget and ahead of schedule.

To conclude, I would like to thank all of the people who have worked hard to get the project up and running the members and staff of Carlow and Kildare County Councils, the NRA and my own officials. Also, I congratulate Ascon, the contractor for this project and wish them well in their work.

Finally, I'd like to thank the people here in Carlow for their strong support for the project.

Thank You.