This article is from page 13 of the 2006-04-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
PROPOSALS for a bridge across the Shannon at the port of Foynes would cut an hour off the journey at peak time between the airport and Limerick.
The Foynes Port Company, which is putting forward the idea, says the proposed three-kilometre bridge would cut 36 kilometres off the journey and help open the region to business and tourism interests.
A tunnel that is planned closer to Limerick will cost €380 million and knock just five kilometres off the journey, but the port company says one crossing would compliment the other.
The company’s proposal is to put in a pre-cast bridge, which could be built in under a year and would cost less than €100 million. It has been designed to allow shipping traffic uninterrupted access to the port of Foynes.
Combined with the completion of the dual carriageway between Galway and Ennis, it would more than double the existing catchment area of Shannon Airport to 700,000.
The proposal is part of a strategy by the Shannon Foynes Port Company to work with State agencies to create a counterbalance to the East coast of the country.