Cork-Limerick motorway route to be known by September

M20 route and and a new rail connection between Cork and Limerick is expected to be known by August or September

It will be August or September before the route for the Cork-Limerick motorway will be known.

The proposed route for the Cork-Limerick motorway (M20) and a new rail connection between the cities is expected to be known by August or September.

That's according to Cork County Council's director of roads, Padraig Barrett, who has said thousands of people have already commented on the different route options under consideration.

“The public consultation process on the project commenced on November 16 last and has resulted in more than 38,000 online visits to the virtual consultation room," Mr Barrett said. 

"In addition, the project team has held 726 individual consultation meetings (online and telephone), and received 1,091 submitted feedback forms and over 1,000 written/email submissions.”

The project team has also attended a number of public online meetings arranged by elected representatives to provide information on the project and answer queries.

“They are now collating and reviewing all the information received as part of the consultation process such that it can inform the selection process in identifying the preferred option,” he added.

The identification of the preferred option will further refine the study area and reduce significantly the number of people potentially impacted by the project.

Meanwhile, plans are also progressing on the development of a northern bypass of Mallow, which will hook the main roads to Fermoy and Mitchelstown to the M20.

Mr Barrett said the initial 22 route options for that are being whittled down. The process is using three-dimensional digital terrain models.

“The shortlisted options have been rationalised to facilitate straighter alignments to allow for safe overtaking opportunities,” Mr Barrett said.

"Each of the shortlisted options incorporates a typical 200m wide corridor to allow for further refinement of the option as the scheme develops."

He pointed out the corridor widths are somewhat notional and indicate the lands within which a scheme may be built and where they will carry out surveys, studies, and design work in the next phase of the project.

A number of county councillors, led by Fianna Fail councillor Gearóid Murphy, have expressed concern that the bypass may come too close to houses on the eastern side of the town, which are near the former Mallow-Fermoy railway line (known as the red route).

Mr Murphy proposed that this route, if selected, be pushed further north, away from approximately 100 homes in the vicinity. 

However, Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said doing this could lead to farms being split in two. 

He added that if the bypass is too far north of the town, truck drivers, in particular, might still take a shorter route through the town centre and that is something they want to avoid.

Fianna Fail councillor Pat Hayes said the bypass is needed as quickly as possible, but added that the red route offers the opportunity to develop a cycleway/walkway as well, which would be a good thing.

Mr Barrett said all views would be taken into consideration by the project team to “improve safety, economic development and quality of life”. 

He acknowledged the likely route selected would have to go through privately-owned lands and they will have to be mindful of impacts on property owners.

“We're trying to be as open and as transparent as we can. We will work over the next months to get the best option we can,” he added.