How many ring roads do we need by 2050

I must say that I was impressed last weekend, on a trip back to Helsinki where I spent some formative time 25 years ago. What was very impressive on Sunday morning was the journey from Helsinki central to a rural area between Espoo and Vaanta. King I King II and King III are not old monarchies in this democracy, but the ring roads around the Helsinki region. King II is not yet complete, but one can see and experience the free flowing traffic.

So what should we plan ? M 50 M500 and M 5000 ?

The Helsinki plan obviously allows for the continued transportation of their goods as their port move northwards. It allows effectively a cluster of Cities that make up the greater Helsinki Metropolitan area, where families can live in countryside style, but yet have the benefits of excellent transport links, particularly public transport to access their knowledge centre clusters.

We are hardly having a debate at this point on our orbital routes. We need a bypass - not a relief road like the M50. The M50 is now a suburban link for commuter traffic. We also need an outer orbital route encircling the greater Dublin region.

How long to you think the current m50 widening will last ? particular with the scale of expansions being proposed including Ikea, Swords and Blanchardstown.