Retail ban at hubs on M20 aims to boost trade of Limerick towns and villages

TRANSPORT hubs planned along the Limerick to Cork motorway will not have retail or hospitality facilities, the co-ordinator of the €1.2bn project has said.

Jari Howard said in order to protect the local trade of the areas that these hubs will be located beside, there will only be very limited amenities - such as toilets, a waiting room and electric vehicle chargers.

READ MORE: Wolfe Tones' final concert and lots more on in Limerick this weekend

“There will not be shops there, or petrol stations. These are facilities which are already in the towns. We’d rather people go into the towns if they want to get a coffee, that kind of thing. They’ll be able to park in these hubs and walk to the towns,” he told Limerick Live this week.

Here in Limerick, it’s hoped this move will give a welcome economic boost to the town of Croom and the village of Bruree, as well as Charleville on the Cork side of the border.

The other transport hubs along the M20 will be located at Rathduff, Mourneabbey, Mallow and Buttevant.

It’s anticipated that where an extended walk is needed, the transport hubs will be ready for active travel measures to take motorists to the nearest towns. “We’d rather people go into the town if they want to get a coffee, that kind of thing. I don’t think it’s our business to take away business from these towns and villages. If we put retail into them, we are going to upset businesses from these villages and towns which have these services already, which you don’t want to do,” Mr Howard added.

The M20 co-ordinator was at a meeting of the local authority’s Adare-Rathkeale district this Tuesday, following an invitation by Independent Ireland councillor John O’Donoghue.

The move came after the publication of the routes last month gave the clearest indicator yet on the extent of the land which will need to be acquired, with a number of buildings likely to make way and farmland to be cut up.

Concerns remain on access around Croom, in Cllr O’Donoghue's electoral area.

Mr Howard told the meeting that automatic number plate recognition would be in place along the M20. Toll fees will be divided into eight segments, reflecting the distance travelled on the M20.

Motorists using the full length of the road would pay the full toll, 100%, while shorter journeys would be charged in 12.5% increments.

Exact charges will be confirmed closer to completion of the motorway.