Not only will motorists continue to fork out for tolls but a trip on the M6 will be, let us say uncomfortable, with plans for service areas abandoned due to lack of funding.
Motorists will have difficulty holding on to more than just their coins when they travel from Galway to Dublin on the new M6 as it has been revealed this week that no service areas will be built on the motorway because not enough money is available.
The National Roads Authority (NRA ) announced this week that there were no plans to build services on the M6 (Dublin to Galway ), M7 (Dublin to Limerick ), M8 (Dublin to Cork ), and the M9 (Kilcullen to Waterford ). However the NRA has come up with a solution. It plans to spend some €200,000 erecting signs on the motorways directing drivers off the network to nearby villages and towns for fuel, food, and toilets.
The NRA has fully backed plans for a national signage programme stating that this will help motorists to locate services. The 130 signs are due to be put in place by the end of next month.
The signage plans have been slammed by AA Ireland which described the absence of service stations on four Irish motorways as a safety hazard, citing driver fatigue as a key cause of collisions.
An Bord Pleanála had already approved the development of seven service areas on Irish motorways.
Superstop consortium is the preferred bidder to build service stations, two of which will be located on the M1 (Dublin to Belfast ). A third service station is due to open on the M4 (Dublin to Sligo ).
