With traffic getting worse and the population continuing to grow, it has long been acknowledged that Waterford will require a third river crossing to compliment the Edmund Rice Bridge and the Sustainable Transport Bridge.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Adam Wyse, raised the issue at the September meeting of the Waterford Plenary Council, suggesting that old plans to situate the bridge at the Tower Hotel were now outdated. He also suggested that Waterford should show more innovation and ambition as he raised the possibility of building a tunnel, like they have in Cork and Dublin.
“In that [upcoming] feasibility study, is the only option we are looking at really is coming over from the Tower Hotel on the Lombard Street side? I would be very wary about putting another bridge into that area, it is already extremely congested,” he explained.
“Should Waterford be looking to do something bigger? Should we be thinking outside the box? Should we be looking from around Faithlegg over to the port to get people across?”
“Cork and Dublin have built tunnels in the last few decades, should Waterford be looking at constructing a tunnel instead of a bridge,” he explained. “I just want to know is the feasibility study just looking at one option for the third river crossing, from the Tower Hotel on the Lombard Street side, or could they actually look at more ambitious projects for Waterford like other cities have gotten,” Cllr. Wyse added.
In reply, Director of Services Gabriel Hynes was open to the idea, saying, “I think we are on the same page. We are about to go to tender for the feasibility report to be prepared the brief on that will look at all options in relation to the third river crossing. I don’t want to pre-empt the report, but certainly we would be looking at options further out to allow the city to grow.
“But your point is well made,” he added. “Hopefully we will have a consultant appointed in the next few months with the report delivered in the middle of next year.”
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
