Details of biggest road project ever revealed

Plans for the biggest single new road project in Irish history were published today.

The route is due to stretch for 110kms (68 miles), between Co Kildare and Co Waterford, and cost £550m, excluding compensation costs and compulsory purchases of land.

The scheme is expected to affect at least 470 landowners and 430 households, with a minimum of 22 homes lined up for demolition as a result of the project.

Being built as part of the National Development Plan, the road is expected to be designated as a motorway, though no firm decision has yet been taken on that issue, and provisionally it is being titled the N9.

A spokesman said the owners of all households along the route were being visited by county council officials in coming weeks and there would be a series of consultations with people affected by the plan.

Construction is likely to start near the end of 2003 and take as long as three years to complete.