3         DEVELOPMENT OF ROUTE OPTIONS

3.1   The Study Area

The Study Area was defined at a meeting with National Roads Office (CCC) on 10 January 2001, with a start point on the proposed N22 Ballincollig bypass east of Ovens, and the finish point the N22 west of Ballyvourney.  The Study Area is shown in the Constraints Study Report.

3.2   Initial Study

Following identification of constraints within the Study Area during the Constraints Study a number of concept route corridors were developed.  These are shown on Figure 3.1: Concept Route Corridors.

The major principles used to develop these corridors relate to the topography of the area as well as the avoidance of primary constraints, which are considered to be:

·       Designated ecological sites

·       Important archaeological sites

·       Quarries

·       Local amenities and public services

·       Tourist sites

3.3   Route Corridor Workshop

A route corridor workshop was held on the 4 April 2001 at Hyder Offices in Guildford, UK.  Attendees comprised a Cork County Council representative and specialist team leaders from McCarthy Hyder Consultants.  The purpose of the workshop was to assess the route corridors put forward and identify any further possible routes.

During the workshop, 4 route corridors were identified, with variations on 3 of the corridors.  These are shown on Figure 3.2: Route Options Workshop (4 April 2001) and the minutes of the meeting are presented in Appendix 3.

3.4   Elimination Of Certain Routes From Further Investigation

Following the workshop there was further input from the specialist team leaders and, on 1 May 2001, a decision was made in consultation with CCC to eliminate the following sections:

·       Route to south of Coachford but north of reservoir – affected existing development to the north of the reservoir and close to burial ground, large earthworks would be required west of Coachford and a better alternative was provide by similar route to north of Coachford

·       Route from Garryhesty through Rathonoane to the south of the reservoir  - the topography required a gradient of in excess of 5% for over 3km length and the earthworks required would create a significant scar on the landscape.  This route was also close to the Monastic site at Coolnacarriga.

·       Route from Lissarda, south of the Gearagh to Ballymakeery  - this route was close to the Gearagh, which is considered a very important site both locally and internationally.  This route would also affect the bat colony at Dunisky and would also require the additional cost of 6km access to Macroom, which is a major town in the area.

The remaining options consist of 2 routes to the west of Macroom and 4 routes to the east.  The routes all converge at the extents of the scheme and at Macroom.

These routes are shown on Figure 3.3 and a decision matrix is presented in Appendix 3.  These routes were presented at the Second Public Consultation

3.5   Route Development Workshop

Following the Second Public Consultation the routes were further developed to take account of information received from the public and from surveys of the environmental aspects.  There was a further workshop meeting on 7th August 2001 attended by the designers and environmental personal of McCarthy Hyder at which the routes were looked at in detail to assess any further changes required before route selection was made.  The Route Selection Plan (Figure 3.4) presents the outcome of this workshop and the routes that are assessed within this Report.  Minutes of the meeting are presented in Appendix 3.

3.6   Assessing The Route Options

Routes are compared between the converging points:

·       Tie-in west of Ballyvourney to a point north of Ballymakeery

·       Point north of Ballymakeery to Macroom

·       Macroom to tie-in at the Ballincollig bypass

3.7   Route Section References

The routes are assessed throughout the Report by the Route Section References given below:

Route

Route Section Ref.

Node

From

To

Green

G/01

1

2

 

G/02

2

3

 

G/03

3

4

 

G/04

4

4a

 

G/04a

4a

6

 

G/05

6

9

 

G/06

9

14

 

G/07

14

16

 

 

 

 

Yellow

Y/01

1

2

 

Y/02

2

3

 

Y/03

3

3a

 

Y/04

3a

5

 

Y/05

5

5a

 

Y/05a

5a

6

 

Y/06

6

7

 

Y/06a

7

7a

 

Y/07

7a

8

 

Y/08

8

11

 

Y/09

11

12

 

Y/10

12

15

 

Y/11

15

16

 

 

 

 

Red

R/01

7

7b

 

R/02

7b

13

 

R/03

13

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue

B/01

7b

10

 

B/02

10

11

 

B/03

11

12a

 

B/04

12a

15

 

 

 

 

Links

L/01

4

5

 

L/03

9

13

 

L/04

8

10

 

L/06

12

12a

 

 

 

 

 

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