With the Shannon tunnel due to open to traffic within the next month the Irish Times has been looking at the cost of the land required for the €810m project. Using a Freedom of Information request the newspaper established that €56.5m was spent in acquiring the land for Phase II of the Limerick Southern Ring Road which will run for 9.75km.
One landowner was paid €10.4m and ten others received sums ranging from €1.1m to €8m. The cost per acre was €127k compared with the €47.5k per acre paid for land required for Phase I which was completed in 2004. A National Roads Authority spokesman acknowledged that the land costs were very high and pointed out that negotiations took place when property values were at their peak. It was also noted that more of the land for Phase II was in the city and was therefore more valuable than the farmland purchased for Phase I.