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AS TODAY IS THE TRADITIONAL CELEBRATION OF IRELAND AND ALL THINGS IRISH, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ST. PATRICK'S DAY (were it not for its coinciding with Holy Week this year), perhaps it may be interesting to digress in some length how our Irish brethren are reinventing transportation policy.
I refer here to the Irish Government's €34 billion initiative over the 2006-2015 period known as Transport 21, which is designed to develop a comprehensive rail, road and air transport network across the Auld Sod by way of major construction and reconstruction efforts serving to benefit all of Ireland, with particular attention being directed to the Dublin metropolitan region--as in:
Further expansion of the Luás light-rail network, including final interconnexion of the two lines and construction of three new lines.
Reconstruction, reequipment and electrification of the commuter-rail network (DART), including a new underground Interconnector between Heuston and Pease rail stations in central Dublin.
Increasing capacity on the Kildare commuter rail line between Hazelhatch and Cherry Orchard.
Reopening a long-disused stretch of rail line between Clonsilla (on the Maynooth commuter rail line) and Dunboyne, with possible further extension to Navan.
Constructing two Metro lines, as in:
a heavy-rail line linking St. Stephen's Green and Swords (near Lissenhall) via Dublin airport; and
a quasi-LRT line between Tallaght, Porterstown and Dublin airport on the western fringe.
Expanding the Dublin Bus network's capacity by 60% through new and replacement bus purchases and introduction of new radial and orbital routes.
Introduction of bus-priority lanes (or, in Transport 21's phrase of choice, Quality Transit Corridors) on major streets and highways in the Dublin region.
But it's not just Dublin that's seeing the fruits of Transport 21: Regional Ireland is also to see its share of transport investments, among them:
A €195 million investment in 67 locomotive-hauled coaches for the flagship Dublin-Cork Intercity service and 183 DMU (diesel multiple unit) railcars for regional rail services.
A state-of-the-art repair and maintenance facility for the aforementioned DMU trainsets in Portlaoise.
€73 million invested since 2006 towards the purchase of 160 new buses and 145 replacement buses for rural, commuter and local bus services in the provinces.
Development of commuter-rail services in the Cork region (Mallow-Cork City-Midleton/Cobh), including reconstruction of the long-disused line to Midleton.
Reconstruction and phased reopening of the long-disused Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Claremorris via Galway (which would see commuter rail service to Athenry), allowing for direct rail services between Galway and Limerick, plus a more direct interconnexion @ Claremorris for Dublin via the Westport line and further potential for regional rail services. (The Claremorris-Collooney line will be railbanked.)
Meanwhile, in the highways sector, major projects covered by Transport 21 include:
Constructing two new motorways (the M1 and M3) from Dublin to the Northern Ireland border.
Reconstructing the M50 Dublin expressway, including one segment being developed as a Public-Private Partnership.
Reconstructing the N2 (Dublin-Monaghan) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N4 (Dublin-Sligo), with replacement as the M4 motorway in places.
Reconstructing the N5 (Dublin-Westport-Castlebar) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N6 (Dublin-Galway), with replacement as the M6 motorway in places.
Reconstructing the N7 (Dublin-Limerick) as the M7 motorway.
Reconstructing the N8 (Dublin-Cork), with portions becoming the M8 motorway.
Reconstructing the N9 (Dublin-Waterford) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N11 (Dublin-Rosslare), with occasional portions as the M11 motorway and same segueing into Euroroute E01 between Rosslare and Larne (Northern Ireland).
Reconstructing five major highways between Waterford and Letterkenny known as "the Atlantic Corridor" (viz., the N15, N17, N18, N20 and N25), with further improvement on the N25 between Waterford and Rosslare, to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks throughout.
So what could we "morally superior" Americans, especially so here in Minnesota (thanks to the I-35W bridge collapse bringing renewed sense of urgency to the deterioration of transport infrastructure), learn from our Irish brethren in this respect?
