hen it comes to the N11 upgrades, the main 
concern for most people is preserving the beauty – and the history – of the Glen Of The Downs and its surrounding area.
And so, choosing between a widening of the N11 road, a parallel motorway closer to the Sugar Loaf or going underground, for some, the latter would seem the most attractive choice.
which included two blatantly ludicrous motorways over Delgany Golf Club – in the dry Wicklow County Council press release last week, but local journalist Tim O’Brien of The Irish Times has done some digging.
It’s the Purple Route that would see traffic between Dublin and Wexford head into a tunnel that will go under approximately 20 houses plus Norman Downs village and fair green, the 15th-century St Mary’s Church and a 9th century ring fort overlooking the glen.
The new underground route would then rejoin current M11/N11 north of the glen, just before Kilpedder. Naturally, it’s the most expensive option on the table, by far.
The other remaining corridor option, the Cyan Route, would be a new 22km road running parallel to the existing N11, departing from Cabinteely and cutting through the likes of Kilternan, Enniskerry and Calary before rejoining the existing N11 at Coynes Cross, just before Ashford. 
For local heritage activist Yasmin Fortune, founder of the Glen Of The Downs Heritage website, has welcomed the proposed underground route. “I was in Andalusia a few years ago and stopped before just such an underground tunnel, to admire these incredible mountain goats, standing on the rocks above the tunnel. That image really stayed with me, that these massive tunnels can go through the natural landscape and not impact it that much.”
It was early on that Yasmin suggested an underground option to consultants Arup and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, as they held public consultations in 2018 for the proposed N11/M11 upgrade. And they seem to have heeded her call.
thriving above the tunnel,” finishes Yasmin, “and the traffic being hidden away from view, and away from harm.”