County Hall issues farmers with CPOs for €150m bypass

A TOTAL of 126 farmers have been notified of Cork County Council’s intention to buy their land for a tolled €150 million super highway, which could be built by a company heavily involved in the reconstruction of Iraq.

County engineer, Ned Flynn, said landowners have been told that the council was willing to enter into negotiations about the purchase price for the acreage for the Fermoy bypass.

“They have been asked to prepare their claim and have three months to do so. The total amount of land required to construct the 17.5km bypass is 440 acres,” Mr Flynn said.

According to the National Roads Authority tendering for the project has been whittled down to two consortia. One, Direct Route, includes Haliburton Brown & Roof Limited, the company involved in a number of Iraq projects. Whether the American company is successful should be known by the end of October.

Mr Flynn said he was hopeful work would start by February and it was estimated that the dual carriageway will be completed within three years.

The Watergrasshill bypass, which is 10km long, is due to open to traffic in September, at a total cost of €56m.

“When that is finished, complete dual carriageway will exist from the Bandon Road roundabout to Cork City, up as far as Condonstown, on the northern side of Watergrasshill,” Mr Flynn added.

The Fermoy bypass will then link up with that road, just south of Rathcormac, and swing around the town on the eastern side, over a massive bridge across the River Blackwater before rejoining the existing N8 near the Moorepark research centre.

A Fermoy group has been highly critical of plans to toll the road because it was fearful that charges would drive motorists back into the town.