Minister opens €233m road widening scheme

A €233m road scheme to ease traffic congestion for more than 60,000 motorists a day has been officially opened.

The N7 Naas Road widening works is said to have been most complex and challenging road engineering project to be undertaken in the state.

The carriageway is a major link in the chain of the national road network connecting Cork, Waterford and Limerick direct to Dublin, carrying on average 62,000 vehicles a day.

The road, which runs from the Red Cow roundabout in Dublin, will carry players, officials and visitors to next month’s Ryder Cup, to be held in the K Club.

A commemorative stone to mark the completion and the official opening of the project was unveiled today by Transport Minister Martin Cullen.

“This is the tenth National road project to be opened this year, on time and within budget,” he said.

The major project included the addition of a third lane in either direction on the existing N7 dual carriageway from Rathcoole to the existing Naas By-pass.

It also involved upgrading the 5.4km stretch of road, which now features two footbridges, four interchanges and the removal of traffic control lights at Johnstown and Kill.

Conor Faughnan, of the AA, said the scheme was managed with little disruption, which is encouraging for future road works, including the third lane project on the M50.

“The contractors on the M50 are obliged to maintain two flowing lanes at all times,” he said. “They can look at the project management that was applied to the Naas Road exercise and if can do the same thing on the M50 we will all be very relieved.”

Other schemes due to start on the N7 and N8 routes include improvements at Portlaoise/Castletown, at Castletown/Nenagh, at Cullahill/Cashel, and at Mitchelstown/Fermoy.

Work on the Rathcormac/Fermoy project is currently ahead of schedule and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

“The completion of the Naas Road project is one of this year’s major events because we are relieving one of the most travelled roads in Ireland of critical congestion points and improving its overall safety,” added Peter Malone, of the National Roads Authority.