Proposal to toll new Limerick to Cork road road ‘counterproductive’ says Limerick TD

PROPOSALS to make the new N/M20 from Limerick to Cork a tolled road will lead to motorists using older routes to avoid paying.

That’s according to Limerick TD Niall Collins, who said he was not in favour of recommendations by the National Road Design team who are currently progressing plans for the new motorway.

The new motorway will connect the existing M20 in Patrickwell to the dual carriageway in Blarney in Cork, and will bypass towns like Adare, Charleville, and Buttevant.

The National Road Design team behind the project have recommended tolling the new road, with the cost to the motorist dependent on the distance travelled.

Project coordinator Jari Howard told RTÉ that the distance-based tolling format will be more “equitable”.

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“Instead of having one toll location on there (the route), that toll is spread over the whole thing, so you only pay for the section of road you use,” he said.

Mr Howard claimed that tolling “is more equitable in that regard. A modest toll for each of the junctions and that will help minimise toll avoidance, going through villages and places like Charleville”.

However, Limerick Minister of State Niall Collins, who is a native of Patrickswell, said that adding a toll to the road would put simply people off using it.

“I am not in favour of tolling this proposed new road. We need to reduce the cost of vehicular travel in Ireland and less tolls will help achieve this goal,” the Limerick Fianna Fáil Minister of State said.

“Also, having a toll will force some potential road users off the motorway onto regional and local roads which is not desirable and counterproductive,”

Minister Collins added that at the moment, however, the toll is just a recommendation.

“No decision on whether the new M20 will be tolled or indeed on the type of tolling has yet been taken,” he said.

“The project design team have made a recommendation that the motorway be tolled. So what’s being reported is just a recommendation. This will ultimately be a decision of the Government of the day when the motorway is constructed and ready for use.”