Opening of €26m bypass to ease gridlock
This prediction was made yesterday by Peter Malone, as he attended the opening of a €26 million road which will relieve congestion in one of the country’s most gridlocked towns.
The 4.2km-long relief road at Mitchelstown, Co Cork, is one of a number of projects which will significantly cut down on journey times on the main Cork-Dublin road, the N8.
Mr Malone revealed that the Fermoy bypass is to be opened on October 2, putting yet another piece of the infrastructural jigsaw in place.
Cork county engineer, Ned Flynn, pointed out that drivers will soon be able to travel on continuous dual carriageway from Ovens, on the Cork-Macroom road, north to Moorepark, near Fermoy.
“Work has started on the Cashel to Mitchelstown road and this will be complete by 2009. In the meantime the Naas road, which will have three lanes each way, will open on time, at the end of next month,” Mr Malone said.
The NRA chairman added that work was also underway on the main roads from Dublin to Limerick, Galway and Waterford and that these schemes will also be completed by 2010. Work on the Dublin-Newry road is expected to be finished by July 2007. At present, Mr Malone said, the NRA is spending approximately €1.5 billion a year on improving the country’s main roads.
Under the Transport 21 plan, the NRA has got €16 billion to splash out on more road improvements up to 2015.
“We’d like to get working on the road from Galway to Shannon, that would be one of our priorities,” Mr Malone said.
He added that improving the road network along the western seaboard was another important project which needed attention. “The Cork-Donegal western link will be important. By 2009, with the opening of the Limerick tunnel, that city will be bypassed and we hope to have the Ennis bypassed finished by this time next year,” Mr Malone said.
Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, said that Mitchelstown was just part of the overall plan, even though it was an important component.
Engineers believe that the relief road, which runs to the eastern side of the town, will save commuters around half an hour during peak times. Gardaí said they hoped Thursday and Friday evening jams, which were often two miles long on either side of the town, were now a thing of the past. It’s estimated that 20,000 vehicles a day will be taken off Mitchelstown’s main street.
The relief road not only bypasses the main street but it also links up with the Limerick and Mallow roads at strategic points.
