M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy

Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, seeking to upgrade 12.5km of the N28 in line with the European TEN-T policy, engaged RPS to lead the road design, environmental assessment and the statutory consent application procedures.

Following the submission of the application for consent to An Bord Pleanála, an extensive stakeholder engagement exercise was undertaken. An Oral Hearing was conducted and the project was approved in July 2018 subject to 5 conditions.

Challenge

The M28 offered a number of challenges to our teams. The proposed route is located in proximity to a Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. The route also traverses a quarry which provides challenges as it contains species protected by the Floral Protection Order. The quarry route was chosen in favour of greenfield land so as to allow the neighbouring built up areas to fulfil growth requirements as set out in policy documents.

Given the route’s proximity to residential and urban areas, serious concerns were raised by local residents regarding the impact on noise and air quality.

Solution

RPS designers and environmental teams worked on an iterative basis to design a road which had the least impact on the environment while meeting the design requirements.

Baseline noise data was collected and noise modelling software was used to predict the impact of the proposed road, allowing for mitigating measures to be put in place.

Natura and Ecological Impact Assessments were undertaken to understand the nature of the Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. This allowed our design team, in an iterative way, to develop options to limit the impact of the project as much as possible on the area.

Our Project Communications team engaged with local stakeholders, including concerned local residents and prescribed bodies at key stages of the project. Feedback from the events informed and strengthened the project’s decision-making process.

The result: two successful concurrent applications to An Bord Pleanála.