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This is my reply to the DfI Consultation sent to them in a personal capacity. It closes tomorrow at 5pm. I've concentrated on the fixed bridge aspect of the scheme.
Columba
The DfI must not build a fixed bridge over Newry Ship Canal as part of the Southern Relief Road.
1: If a bridge is needed it MUST be an opening structure to allow tall ships and yachts to travel unhindered as they currently can. Anything else is wanton vandalism carried out by a Government department. If an opening bridge cannot be part of the scheme then the road should not happen at all.
2: Historically Newry has been a SeaPort accessed by river and canal for nearly 300 years. Any fixed bridge will destroy the heritage asset that is Newry Ship Canal and as a result remove one of the City’s few unique selling points, a heritage that is ingrained into the very fabric of Newry and its people. Removal of unhindered navigation will have the potential to severely financially impact the City in the future.
3: Newry Ship Canal is a Scheduled Monument and needs to be protected. It is the only Canal on the entire island of Ireland that currently is accessible and navigated by tall ships and yachts. To suggest as DfI does, that a fixed bridge is somehow more sympathetic to and less damaging to the heritage monument, than a bridge that opens and allows the Canal to do what it is supposed to do, is obscene.
4: Newry Canal and by association Newry Ship Canal is the oldest canal in Ireland. It needs protected not vandalised by a fixed concrete structure.
5: In the past two years there have been around 70 vessels using the Ship Canal each year, mainly for leisure but also because it leads to the Albert Basin which is a unique sheltered harbour. The Iúr Cinn Fleadh Festival has been bringing a tall ship up the canal almost every year since 2014 for 12 trips up and down the Ship Canal over the course of a weekend. A fixed bridge will make this impossible and destroy this rich tourism asset.
6: If a consultation hasn’t already been carried out on the future potential of an opening bridge then the entire basis on which DfI decided to proceed with a fixed bridge is flawed.
7: The asset that is Newry Ship Canal via which tall ships and yachts sail right up Carlingford Lough, through Victoria Lock into the centre of Newry is unique. By building a fixed bridge the Department for Infrastructure are preventing future initiatives such as Tall Ship Festivals and flotillas which would bring hundreds of thousands of pounds into the city economy. Indeed potentially millions of pounds could benefit our city with a signature tall ship event.
8: To say that an opening bridge cannot be justified cost wise is completely wrong. A fixed bridge cannot be justified cost wise.
9: A route for tall ships and yachts where those sailing experience travel through a beautiful scenic area first via an opening Narrow Water Bridge, then through Victoria Lock and then through an opening bridge in the ship canal will be a world class attraction and will recoup any initial cost for the opening bridge many times over. Financial wise there would be no reason why the same operator couldn’t open the Narrow Water Bridge, operate the Victoria Lock gates and then open the ship canal bridge or do that in reverse.
10: It is said that the SRR will somehow improve traffic and environmental conditions in Newry City. The Southern Relief Road will not stop HGV’s travelling through Newry, especially late at night if the driver feels it would be quicker. It actually gives motorists an additional route to enter the City from. The SRR will be used by people travelling from Dublin direction to enter the city via Kilmorey street thus instantly cancelling any potential benefit of less freight vehicles.
11: Thanks to the well recognised ‘Induced demand’ effect it is widely accepted that new roads do not fix congestion issues but rather adds to them. At a time when environmental and climate concerns should take precedence, building a new road which will greatly increase traffic and emissions in the area, should not be a priority.
Local group Can't Fathom it have also made a submission objecting to the road in its entirety, which you can read at www.facebook.com/cantfathomit
