TRAFFIC volumes are returning to pre-recession levels and large parts of the road network will not be able to cope without major upgrades.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) has warned that lives will be in danger as congestion returns - unless sub-standard roads are improved and engineered to cope with higher volumes.

Capacity is not a problem on the 1,200km of motorway and dual carriageway built in recent years, chief executive Fred Barry told the Irish Independent.

However, concern is growing about the 4,100km of single-carriageway national routes, including the main Cork-Limerick road.

The lack of space for HGVs to pass with safety, dangerous bends, the absence of hard shoulders to provide a margin of safety in the event of run-off and flooding on verges because of no drainage are becoming major issues.

Improvements are not only needed on the national network, which carries about 40pc of all traffic: many parts of the 95,000km of regional and local network also require works.

Mr Barry said few large-scale projects like dual carriageways were needed, but investment of at least another €170m a year for 'new' projects would 'break the back' of necessary works.

"We're seeing traffic volumes at pre-recession levels, and they're still growing.

"In five or 10 years' time, they are going to be 20pc to 30pc higher than they are at the moment," said Mr Barry.

"But an awful lot (of the network) is not in a satisfactory condition. The lack of economic activity during the recession took a lot of the pressure off these roads, but now the economy is rebuilding and traffic is growing, focus is returning to those roads."

Congestion is emerging as a problem on Dublin's M50 and Cork's Ring Road, routinely used by 100,000 vehicles a day.

Figures obtained by the Irish Independent show volumes rising in Roscommon, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cork, Clare and Laois amongst others - up 20pc on the Athlone bypass alone.

Even with funding, the time required to design, secure planning and complete upgrades is a concern.

This can take up to 10 years - meaning many will not be delivered until the mid-2020s, even if planning begins now. At that stage, there could be as many as 350,000 additional cars on the roads.

"One of our concerns is that the demand in needs is going to outstrip our preparation and actual delivery. In all of this, the Government is in a tough position," Mr Barry said.

"We need more schools and hospitals for a rising population, but it's essential, in our view, that the State gets back to normal levels of capital investment. That means investment in roads for demand that's already there."

Capital spending has been cut in recent years, with most of the allocation invested in maintenance. As much as a "couple of thousand" kilometres of national secondary roads may need improvements,

"There's a lot of roads that are too narrow, don't have the safety features, don't have the alignment. In some cases they weren't built from foundation level upwards, so you're patching them but then coming back again," Mr Barry added.

He noted that grant figures for next year is a little higher than the NRA were expecting, "which is very positive".

"The additional money will go into a combination of capital maintenance and small projects. We won't have as much as we'd like, but we're not in a catastrophic situation and recognising the pressure on Government, we can't say that's not fair," Mr Barry said.

However, he added that rising traffic levels would create problems in the long-term unless action was taken now.

Photographs released by the NRA to the Irish Independent today show some everyday examples of the problems being faced around the country.

"The right thing to do is set out a programme and work your way through it. The key thing is not being over-awed by what needs to be done," Mr Barry said.

Irish Independent