Local motorists facing increased toll costs from next year will chose alternative routes. That's according to transport experts who say that there is no need for two tolls on the M3 Cavan to Dublin in the first instance, never mind increasing the cost in the New Year to use the motorway.
Conor Faughnan, Media & Public Affairs Consultant told Northern Sound today that tolls were 'sold' at the time they were being installed with the premise they were needed to fund the road.
He says, however, that they don't make that much money in the grand scheme of things. Mr Faughnan added that placing a toll on a motorway was "never a good idea". "The M3 is deserted half the time; you could practically play football on it.
"The reason why that road was built was to alleviate the dangerous old road that it replaced and yet the traffic is still on that old road. It's a clear example of the tolls' own goal and is demonstrated more clearly by the M3 than anywhere else.
"But the same effect is felt in places like Kinnegad, Drogheda, and Fermoy - even in Dublin where the M50 has a toll at Westlink and that has a direct cause of traffic in places like Lucan," Mr Faughnan said.
