Two construction firms in the North have won a £320m (€340m) contract to build a new motorway in Scotland.

Up to 46,000 properties in the North are at risk of being flooded, it was revealed today.

A man who died when he fell under a newspaper delivery van on Belfast’s Westlink in the middle of the night had just discharged himself from hospital before being treated for injuries suffered in another drunken fall, an inquest heard today.

AN AVERAGE of 35,000 motorists using the new barrier-free toll on the M50 in Dublin each week are failing to pay the €3 toll within 14 days, despite being sent a warning notice by the operators of the controversial system.

MOTORISTS using the M50 in Dublin could soon be facing a hike in prices on the controversial Westlink toll which began a new barrier-free charging system at the weekend.

THERE could be serious traffic jams around Dublin city over the next week as thousands of motorists who normally use the M50 could take alternative routes to avoid a controversial new barrier-free tolling system which came into effect at midnight.

HAULIERS have decided to call off their threat of a campaign of “civil disobedience” in protest at the new barrier-free scheme on the M50, which comes into effect this Saturday.

HAULIERS are to decide tomorrow if they will boycott tolls on the M50 barrier-free scheme, which begins next Saturday.

A river diverted to make way for a new multi-million pound underpass on a main Belfast thoroughfare was today believed to have been responsible for the flooding of the new roads scheme.

The multimillion-pound upgrade of the Westlink in Belfast took a major step forward when the Broadway Underpass opened today 13 months ahead of schedule.

The National Roads Authority is defending itself against strong opposition to a new system of tolling on the M50.

THE State will be the main beneficiary of any increase in traffic levels following the removal of toll barriers on the Westlink bridge on the M50.

A new pay-as-you-go car-ownership scheme is being examined in a move to ease traffic congestion in Belfast, it was announced today.

THE Government has spent a long time getting rid of cartels in different sectors of the economy.

An extra 200 buses should be purchased and Dublin’s Westlink toll barrier raised at peak times to help struggling commuters, it was claimed today.

IT is with regret I learned of the failed legal bids to stop the sale of Waterford Port (Northside) to private developers. Every time public property falls into private hands, something has been stolen from the ordinary people.

The Dublin port tunnel will cost every household in the state over €550 but only the capital’s city centre will reap any benefit, it was claimed today.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen turned the sod on an upgrade of the notorious M50 today signalling over two years of traffic disruption for motorists.

Traffic should be allowed pass through the Dublin Port Tunnel free-of-charge at night, a business group urged today.

Another Northern hospital is to be stripped of its emergency surgery facilities, it was decided today.

MOTORISTS are paying almost €2 million per week in toll road charges, with the State pocketing around half of the total, according to figures published by toll road operator NTR.

THE National Roads Authority (NRA) is to make recommendations to the Government on how to reduce congestion on the M50 around Dublin.

The National Roads Authority confirmed it is in talks with the Government in a bid to buy up the Westlink Toll Bridge, it emerged tonight.

The Comptroller and Auditor General is to investigate a contract between the Government and National Toll Roads for the construction of the Westlink bridge in Dublin.

NATIONAL Toll Roads is set to earn over €1 billion in revenue from its contract to operate the Westlink toll bridge on the M50 in Dublin up to 2020, even though it cost the company only €38 million to construct.

Hundreds of rioting youths attacked police who answered reports of a stolen vehicle being set on fire in central Belfast overnight.

Motorists will be hit with a 20% VAT hike on the Westlink toll bridge from Friday.