Varadkar: Motorway budget restored in Govt stimulus plan

The Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, has said the motorway budget has been restored by the Government stimulus plan announced today by the Minister for Public Reform.

Minister Brendan Howlin has allocated almost €1bn to significant transport projects in the new plan.

Three Public-Private Partnership projects which had been stalled have been re-activated as part of the plan.

The following projects are set to proceed under the plan:

The N17-N18 Gort-Tuam link, 57km of motorway, bypassing Clarinbridge, Claregalway and Tuam, with work starting in 2013;

The M11 Gorey-Enniscorthy, 26km of motorway, bypassing Enniscorthy, with work starting by the end of 2014;

The N25 New Ross bypass, 15km of road to the Kilkenny border, with a new bridge over the River Barrow, with work starting by the end of 2014.

The 12km Galway city bypass, which would link up with the M6 Dublin motorway, is also a priority, according to Mr Varadkar.

It is currently on hold pending the outcome of legal proceedings, but it is "hoped to progress this as an extra PPP project depending on the outcome of the legal proceedings".

Mr Varadkar said: "More than 60% of the stimulus funding allocated specifically to PPPs is going on road projects. This will be a vital boost to Ireland’s construction sector and will have significant benefits for job creation.

"Instead of freezing the roads programme last year, I took a pragmatic decision to advance each project to the end of its existing phase. This meant that a number of projects were ready to proceed in the event of funding becoming available.

"In some cases essential land was purchased, while in others planning permission was obtained, in readiness for a time when further funding became available. We purchased land for the Gort-Tuam project, and also for the New Ross bypass and Gorey to Enniscorthy roads."

It means that some of the road projects can start under the new stimulus plan.

Provision has already been made in the existing capital budget for LUAS BXD, along with two significant road projects: widening the N11 between Arklow and Rathnew to four lanes, and providing a free-flow system at Newlands Cross on the Dublin to Limerick road.

Mr Varadkar said that negotiations for these two significant projects are close to completion and he hopes to start construction work in the near future.

Mr Varadkar added: "Furthermore, the detailed cost-benefit analyses conducted on these projects were important in persuading the European Investment Bank of the merits of our case."