The Campaign for the Outer Relief Road

The outer relief road, or bypass road, is nearing completion. When opened it should make a huge difference in relieving town centre traffic congestion. Almost half a century has passed since the then Athy Urban District Council considered proposals to lessen anticipated traffic congestion in the town. Traffic was anticipated to increase over the following years and quite rightly the local authority officials in the mid-1970s set about planning for the future. Looking back to a time when the value of the built heritage of our town was largely unappreciated and ignored, it was no surprise that the Council’s consulting engineers engaged to plan for the town’s traffic future proposed an inner relief road as an immediate relief measure. An outer relief road was also recommended as a long-term solution. The inner relief road was planned to run parallel to Leinster Street on the south side, exiting at Meeting Lane and across the back square, bypassing the rear of the Courthouse. The road which was planned to have six-foot-high walls on either side would also require an elevated road from the square to the new bridge a short distance south of Crom a Boo bridge. That inner relief road as planned was the desired development favoured by the County Council officials and it gained the unanimous support of the elected members of Athy Urban District Council in the mid-1970s. It is difficult to imagine nowadays how anyone could have approved the traffic plan, the effect of which was the partial destruction of the finest public space in the county of Kildare. It was the election of a new Council in the mid-1980s which prompted a close look at the inner relief road proposal adopted by a previous Council. It is hard to believe that any town planner or engineer would suggest the construction of a new road just a few yards from the town centre, with walls on both side of the new road. It was that part of the extraordinary incompetent road plan which was first dropped. As a sweetener for the supporters of the inner relief road the Council’s consultants indicated that shopping development along the length of the new roadway would be encouraged, but not so as to infringe on the existing businesses on Duke Street and Leinster Street. How this was to be developed was never explained. Indeed as I look today at the number of vacant shop premises on the town’s main streets I dread to think what might have happened if an inner relief road gave rise to the emergence of further business premises. The inner relief road was opposed by what I believe was the majority of the local townspeople, but despite this the local Councillors by a slim majority supported the County Council officials in their drive for that road. It was not to be as the Planning Appeal Board for the very first time in its history refused permission for a local authority road plan. The Board’s notice of refusal cited the more appropriate development as the outer relief road which is what we are to get later this year or early next year. The townspeople of Athy who campaigned for the outer relief road and opposed the inner relief road got it right. The County Council officials and the public representatives who chose the inner relief road got it wrong. It is well to note that none of the present-day Council officials or public representatives were involved in the outer relief road versus the inner relief road struggle. It was a struggle which went on for several years and involved the call for a plebiscite which was rejected, the holding of public meetings in Emily Square and a door to door canvas for support for the outer relief road. The campaign ended with the six-day public hearing held in the Stand House Hotel on the Curragh, which months later gave the result which the local people had championed. What the campaign taught the local people is that public officials, while claiming to listen to the voice of the people, for the most part ignored the people they serve. Official opinions, I acknowledge, are more often than not in line with those of the general public, but too often we come across instances where the differences between the general public and the officials cannot be merged. The anti-inner relief road campaign is a case in point where the Council officials by various devious means over a long period of time sought to thwart the will of the people. Most notable was the persistent failure of the Council officials to acknowledge the correct count of HGV vehicles passing through the town centre. The true figure which was much larger than that previously stated on numerous occasions by the officials was only finally revealed at the public enquiry. The campaign for the outer relief road and rejection of the inner relief road uncovered institutional arrogance which should have had no part in 20th century local government. Institutional arrogance was the hallmark of the landlord dominated local authorities of the 19th century. The passing of the Local Government Act in 1898 extended the right to vote in local elections and put local government on a truly representative basis which led to the virtual disappearance of the landlord class from local administration. Subsequent changes in local government law saw the emergence of the county manager with executive powers, while the elected members of the councils exercised reserve functions. The initial unhappiness of elected members with the new managerial system led to some changes in the managerial role, but were never completely resolved. However, the lack of autonomy and the weakened power of county councils resulting from departmental control is a continuing issue which makes local government less local than it should be. Despite these shortcomings our long-awaited outer relief road is nearing completion, despite decades of frustration on the part of the local people and many examples of institutional arrogance by former Kildare County Council executives.