New bypass to clear traffic bottleneck

Another of the country’s traffic bottlenecks will be finally cleared today as the new Ennis bypass in Co Clare opens ahead of schedule.

The 14km dual carriageway will initially take 14,000 vehicles out of the gridlocked town each day and this is expected to rise to 35,000 as traffic volumes keep increasing over the next 20 years.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will open the road bypassing Ennis to the east.

The €120m stretch of the N18 is part of the Western Road Corridor linking Tuam, Co Galway to Limerick City.

When work began in April 2004 it had been expected to take three years to complete.