M50 delayed

It's easy to not miss something you don't have. When you don't have something the benefits having it will bring are often difficult to identify.

The M50 is a good case in point.

The unfinished M50 is a five mile stretch of roadway that, by rights, should have been completed quite a few years ago. Due to one problem or another the section from Loughlinstown to Ballinteer remains a building site. Now it's been delayed again, and the September 2005 completion date is in doubt.

The press has included a lot of details about the amount of money that all these delays will cost. But, what about the cost to North Wicklow? I think we should be practically marching on government buildings demanding that this road be completed as soon as possible.

Consider one aspect of the M50 debacle — getting to the airport.

Anyone in Bray, Greystones or the surrounding area knows that a trip to the airport can now take over 2 hours. From Bray, the airport is less than 25 miles away, but because we have to use the slow, often congested Dublin city streets to get to the airport, the journey seems much, much longer. I would be willing to bet that the average journey to the airport from Bray is longer than the average journey from Dundalk, with the new M1.

The cost to us normal travelers is generally our time, but not much else. But, what of the cost to businesses? If I were thinking of locating a factory or an out of town office, I'd definitely choose to locate it near Dundalk rather than Bray simply because of the road infrastructure. This is a real economic cost to us in N. Wicklow.

Additionally, what if you were a bus tour company? Would you rather spend the last night of your Irish tour in the Wicklow Mountains or the Mournes? I know which one I'd choose — the one with the shortest journey to the airport. And, until the M50 is completed, that means the Mournes will be the choice.

I'm all for preserving Ireland's past — within reason. I love all the old buildings and historic sites that are scattered throughout the country. But, we can't live in a museum.

It's all well and good for a student from Kerry to protest about the loss of an old wall, but anyone living here knows that the planned route of the M50 was hashed out over many years. It's too late to change it now.

If we don't get this road completed soon, it may never be completed. That will permanently stunt the development of North Wicklow. If the government finds that the M9 to Waterford will be less hassle than the M50, that will become the road to the port at Rosslare that they want. The road system and scarred landscape around here may remain as they are for a long, long time.

Playing on the road

Fay is wrong. No, not this Fay, of course not. I haven't been wrong since 1984 (and we don't want to go there). I mean Liam Fay of the Sunday Times.

Writing about speeding in his area, he says that he has "never seen a car travel at anything approaching speed inside the estate". I find that very difficult to believe, unless his neighborhood is distinctly different from mine here on the Southern Cross Route. He describes his estate as a "labyrinthine estate where speeding is almost impossible anyway". Again, I doubt it.

Our estate is tiny and the roads are fairly twisty. What that means is that for many people, driving through our estate gives them the opportunity to hone the skills they'll need on the streets of Monte Carlo. They have no regard for the safety of children. They cannot even imagine that anything above 10-12 MPH is excessive where little kids are playing. They don't know what all parents do know — children often make completely irrational and bizarre decisions and can easily find themselves running out in front of a car.

Fay (I'm guessing he has no children of his own) has highlighted the chasm that exists between those who have children and those who do not in our suburban neighborhoods. Those with children know (and, yes, KNOW) that it is absolutely nuts to suggest that "parents should keep their kiddies off the roads, in the interests of child safety". True, some parents (too many, really) are excessively lax in allowing children who are too young to be out playing alone and others are too lax in allowing children to be outside when darkness falls. But, children MUST be able to play outside in the streets in front of their own homes. This is particularly true when your house is in an estate and on a cul de sac.

Too many childless people living in our estate (and in the estate we lived in previously in Co. Kildare) seem to believe that children should only play in their back yards. I've seen neighbors quarrel over this issue. I've often wanted to ask those without children where they played when they were children, but I'm sure the answer would be "our parents didn't let us out to play on the road". I'm also sure that for most of them, that would be a lie.

Most of Fay's article is about the spread of speed ramps (bumps). His point about the regulations regarding these ramps made me wonder if all the new red brick ramps in Bray (Putland Road, etc.) & Killiney (Killiney Hill Road) are meeting these guidelines.

Christmas lights

On St. Stephen's Day, I complimented the people of the area for the Christmas lights adorning the houses and businesses. However, I do think it's time they came down or were at least not turned on. In the past few days I've seen Christmas lights on a service station on the Barnhill Road and on a pub (O'Dwyers?) on the Lr. Kilmacud Road.

There's also a house along the sea front in Bray that still has a lit Christmas tree in the front window. At first I just thought that was bizarre, but today I wondered if it was possible they were Eastern Orthodox or something. I've heard Russian spoken in Bray, so I suppose it's not beyond possibility. The tree appears to be a real one, which had me wondering how long could it last before it became a fire hazard.

Cllr Grant

I never heard of Councillor David Grant until this weekend. He's from Fianna Fáil, and, I would guess, a candidate for a spot on Wicklow's County Council. I don't want to pick on Cllr Grant - I'm sure I'll get similar items in the coming weeks - but when I got his newsletter in my door over the weekend all I could think was, "It's obvious that there's a local election coming". Interestingly, his newsletter doesn't mention refuse collections, which (I HOPE) will be a BIG issue when the local vote is held this June.

Killiney Hill round-about

As bad as the round-about at the intersection of Killiney Hill Road and Victoria Road is, the one outside the gates of the Killiney Hill Park apartments is even worse. If two cars are waiting to enter the gates, traffic heading towards the Druid's Chair cannot pass.

I can't help wondering who it is that lives in those apartments that the 90 second (at most) wait to enter the road was too great a delay in this important person's life. I can think of no other explanation for this ridiculous round-about.

I'm dyin' here

I feel awful. Sort of dirty, I guess. The other day, since I could see no alternative, I quietly and unhappily caved in. Yuck.

Yes, I paid Greenstar to keep collecting our garbage in 2004. I wanted to pay them monthly (or even bi-monthly) as I do with every other utility, but no. You have to pay the full whack (€372) — if you pay by check. You can, however, pay monthly if you pay by direct debit.

So, that's what I did. I needed to do something, but by signing up for direct debit, I at least retain the possibility of finding an alternative arrangement for my garbage and canceling the direct debit. €31 per month for (typically) THREE collections of household refuse. Sure, they're collecting my recyclables on the 4th week, but what am I supposed to do when my garbage can is overflowing after 12 days without a collection?

And, what am I supposed to do when the less recycling-conscious among my neighbors start storing large amounts of garbage in their back yards during those two week intervals? What about when vermin start to appear? I'll be onto the health authorities and talking to a solicitor. Greenstar is creating a health hazard here in their cynical attempt to appear "environmentally aware" AND they know it.

Loughlinstown Hospital

Many times I've read reports about how the people of Wicklow don't want Loughlinstown Hospital to close. I'm sure the primary reason for such thinking is that any of the Dublin Hospitals is too far away. Well, count me as one Wicklow resident who would prefer if Loughlinstown Hospital were closed down.

Last year a family member had the misfortune to end up in Loughlinstown Hospital because that was the hospital "on call" on the night the ambulance was called. My observation of going in and out of there over a protracted period is that being a patient at Loughlinstown Hospital puts you on the fast track to God. Call me old fashioned, but I had the impression that a hospital's reason for being was to help you remain alive.

At the time, I wasn't sure if I was seeing everything correctly, but in light of a recent experience with St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, I'm convinced that overall Wicklow's ill and injured would be far better off in St. Vincent's than in Loughlinstown. Yes, it's 20-25 minutes further away and that may be telling in a few cases. But, the quality of the care at St. Vincent's is so far superior to Loughlinstown that I am convinced that more lives will be saved than lost by closing Loughlinstown Hospital.