Local residents angry over HGV traffic on Naas Inner Relief Road

Local residents along the Dublin Road in Naas are concerned at the number of HGVs using the proposed new Inner Relief Road.

The Council said that the project will alleviate the current traffic congestion and delays experienced in Naas Town Centre, on the existing R445 Dublin Road and the R410 Blessington Road.

But local residents' associations are worried about volumes of heavy vehicles passing near their homes.

Last year, funding of €6million was allocated for the completion of the Naas Inner Relief Road.

Along with funding from Kildare Co. Council the total cost of completing the project is around €10,500,000.

It is estimated that the completion of the inner relief road will provide an additional 800 houses in Naas by 2021.

Kildare County Council gave local people the opportunity to make comments on the project at a public consultation in late February.

Submissions could be made to the Council up to Wednesday, February 28.

Over the coming weeks, the design team will review the submissions received.

This will aid the route selection process, leading to a planning application and Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).

The Naas Inner Relief Road was identified as a key element of infrastructure in the Naas Integrated Framework Plan for Land Use and Transportation (2003).

The Naas Town Development Plan 2011 – 2017 identified a roads objective RP04.

The stated objective was “to construct a distributor road linking the Dublin Road to the Blessington Road via Tipper Road”.

In February 2006, a scheme for Naas Inner Relief Road was granted Part 8 planning approval but due to funding constraints, this proposed scheme did not progress any further.

Kildare County Council said it is currently undertaking a new route selection process so as to identify the optimum

road alignment that will bring long term benefits to Naas.

The proposed scheme will accommodate the necessary growth in residential development by providing an alternative route for traffic and completing the Naas ring road.

The scheme will improve the environment for all road users within the town centre by alleviating congestion.

Stage 1 of the route selection process is now complete and three options (of an initial eight) are put forward for your

comment. These are displayed on the drawing located in the centre of this document.

Stage 2 of the route selection process is progressing presently with each of the three preferred route options being further assessed with regard to Engineering, Environmental and Economic criteria.