Construction to commence in 2015 to the benefit of motorists, local communities and the wider economy
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, has today (Wednesday) said the provision of €60 million in funding for minor works to be carried out on our national roads over the next three years will improve driving conditions for motorists, accessibility for local communities and will help in further boosting economic activity.
The funding, which is being allocated by the National Roads Authority (NRA), who have identified the roads where works are to be carried out, will allow for construction to begin next year and continue over a three year period.
The roads include: (full details below)
Donegal:
N56 Boyoughter to Kilkenny
N15 Blackburn Bridge Realignment Scheme
Galway:
N84 Luimnagh Realignment Scheme
N59 Maam Cross to Oughterard
N83 Forty Acres Realignment Scheme
N17 Carrownurlar to Ballandine (Part of Gort/Tuam Residual Networks)
N63 Abbeyknockmoy to Annagh Hill (Part of Gort/Tuam Residual Network)
Kerry:
N86 Lispole to Mountoven (Section of Tralee to An Daingean)
Leitrim:
N16 Realignment at Cornacloy Phase 2
Louth:
N53 Barrownstown to Hackballs Cross
Mayo:
N59 Rossow Bends
Meath:
N51 Junction Ballyboy
Roscommon:
N61 Rathallen/Treanagry Realignment Scheme
Minister Donohoe said: ‘This funding for minor works to be carried out will see improvements being made which will considerably enhance road safety and accessibility for all users. By eliminating dangerous bends, widening and realigning roads and providing footpaths and cycleways where needed, the safety of motorists and other road users is being prioritised. The wider economy will also benefit as improvements are made to journey times. This means that road users will be able to go about their business in a more efficient manner’.
“Connectivity will be enhanced more generally through, in the case of Donegal, works being carried out on roads to the airport, and in the case of our larger gateways towns of Sligo and Galway.
“A number of the projects identified will see improvements being made to enhance visibility which means safer roads for drivers and for the local communities who depend on them. There is no doubt that as our economy continues to pick-up, our roads are seeing greater volumes of traffic. It is important, however, that we continue to invest where it is needed so that we can reduce congestion and increase economic output. Ensuring the safety of our citizens in doing so is critical. The allocation of this funding will make a considerable difference to that end over the coming years.”
Ends
Full details:
The N56 Boyoughter to Kilkenny scheme is a 5km long road improvement project located approximately 12km south of Dungloe continuing south from the Cloghbolie to Boyoughter scheme which is complete. The current AADT is 2000.This is a second section of the N56 Dungloe to Glenties Low Volume National Secondary road improvement project.
The scheme will involve widening and realignment to Type 3 Single Carriageway. The project also includes a cycle track for its full length, 1.5km of which uses bypassed sections of the old N56. The project will significantly improve the level of service for road users and enhance the accessibility of West Donegal including the Regional Airport at Carrickfinn and Gaeltacht areas.
Donegal
N15 Blackburn Bridge Realignment Scheme
The N15 Blackburn Bridge Phase 1 scheme is located approximately 2km south of Ballybofey. Two fatal accidents linked to the substandard alignment have occurred on this section in the last 10 years. The length of the section is 2.5 km and the current AADT is 6500.
The proposed scheme will involve widening and realignment to Standard Single Carriageway, a new bridge structure to cross the Burn Daurnett river is included.
Galway
N84 Luimnagh Realignment Scheme
The proposed N84 Luimnagh Scheme is located 3km southeast of Headford in Co. Galway. The route has been identified in the National Spatial Strategy and Regional Planning Guidelines as a ‘strategic corridor’ linking Galway city (Gateway) and Castlebar town (Hub).
NRA traffic counter installation ‘N84 between Galway City & Headford’ is currently recording AADT approaching 12,000 vehicles with 2.1% HGV.
The length of the proposed scheme is 4.5kms and will involve widening and realignment to a Type 1 Single Carriageway. 1.4kms of the scheme will be offline eliminating a number of existing 90 degree bends.
Given the grave history in terms of road safety, volumes of traffic and level of service, there is overwhelming welcome for the scheme locally. Landowners have been very cooperative and facilitating of the planning, design and advance works phases to date.
Galway
N59 Maam Cross to Oughterard
Maam Cross to Oughterard 15km in length. Type 3 Single Carriageway road type. It is expected that the scheme will be primarily on-line widening with some isolated off line sections where the existing alignment is particularly poor.
Galway
N83 Forty Acres Realignment Scheme
The proposed N83 Forty Acres Realignment Scheme is 900m long and is approximately 2km east of Tuam. The proposal is to improve the vertical and horizontal alignment of this section and to widen the road. A footpath will also be provided to improve connectivity with Tuam.
The scheme will involve widening and realignment of this N83 section to a Type 3 Single Carriagewayand a 2.5m footpath/ cycleway. The project would significantly improve safety for road users.
Galway
N17 Carrownurlar to Ballandine (Part of Gort/Tuam Residual Networks)
The N17 Carrownurlaur to Ballindine Road Improvement Scheme is located between the villages of Milltown, Co Galway and Ballindine, Co Mayo.
The existing section is deficient in terms of horizontal geometry, carriageway width, sight distances at junctions and also in terms of the irregular vertical profile of the carriageway. The length of the proposed scheme is 2.4 km and the current AADT is approximately 7,300.
The proposed scheme will involve widening and realignment to Type1 Standard Single Carriageway, (7.3m Carriageway with a 2.5m hard shoulder on each side).
The project will significantly improve safety for road users and a positive response to the Scheme has been received from Landowners. The Scheme involves both online and offline realignment with the number of direct accesses being minimized.
The proposed Scheme supports the National Spatial Strategy in terms of improved connectivity between the hub of Tuam and the Gateways of Sligo and Galway by providing a higher quality road
Galway
N63 Abbeyknockmoy to Annagh Hill (Part of Gort/Tuam Residual Network)
The proposed N63 Abbeyknockmoy to Annagh Hill Road Scheme comprises two sections of road realignment totaling approximately 3km in length. One section will link the proposed M17 / N63 junction at at Annagh Hill to the ‘recently completed N63’ west of Abbeyknockmoy. The second section will link this ‘recently completed N63’ to the village of Abbeyknockmoy.
The existing road is substandard in width, alignment, drainage and pavement quality, with forward visibility being very poor.
The N63 is flagged as an important inter-regional national secondary route and as such has been identified by the NRA as a route requiring improvement. The completion of this scheme in tandem with completion of the M17 / M18 major junction nearby, will realize enormous benefits for the area.
Kerry
N86 Lispole to Mountoven (Section of Tralee to An Daingean)
The existing N86 road from Lispole Village to Ballynasare Lower and from Mountoven to Camp is deficient in terms of cross section and horizontal and vertical alignment. There are also a number of junctions along the scheme which are substandard in terms of geometry and visibility.
The proposed N86 Lispole Village to Ballynasare Lower & Mountoven to Camp scheme is 5.1km in
length and is made up of two sections as follows:
The proposed improvements will significantly improve safety for all road users and also improve road users’ connectivity to existing facilities in Lispole Village and Camp Village.
Leitrim
N16 Realignment at Cornacloy Phase 2
The N16 National Primary route begins in Sligo and follows a west to east line through counties Leitrim and Cavan to the Northern Ireland border at Blacklion and Belcoo. The existing section of the N16 Cornacloy to Sradine is substandard in terms of alignment and road width and has a poor accident history with frequent repairs of the road barrier.
The scheme entails the realignment of 2 km of a section of the N16 Cornacloy to Sradine road. The new road section will be a reduced single carriageway. The proposed improvement will greatly enhance safety on this section of the N16 national primary road.
Louth
N53 Barrownstown to Hackballs Cross
The existing section of road on the N53 between Barronstown to Hackballscross is significantly sub-standard with particularly poor vertical alignment. The proposed N53 Barronstown to Hackballscross project extends from the newly realigned section at Newtownbalregan to Barronstown 1km west to the Hackballcross Junction. The works will improve the route’s consistency and integration with the previously completed works.
As well as enhancing the road safety and capacity, the improvement of the N53 has included overtaking sections and will lead to improved journey times and improved access from the north west to Dundalk and the M1 motorway.
Mayo
N59 Rossow Bends
The N59 Rossow Bends scheme, between Newport and Westport, is 1.8km in length and continues from the N59 Kilbride Scheme (completed 2012). The section is part of the overall N59 Westport to Mulranny Road Improvement Scheme.
The existing road and junctions are extremely deficient in cross section, alignment and visibility. The Great Western Greenway, a 42km off-road walking and cycling trail, runs close to and parallel to the N59 in this area and crosses the N59 at-grade at this location, along a non-overtaking section of the road where visibility is deficient.
The proposed road has Type 3 single carriageway construction 600m being constructed off-line, with a 2.5m wide cycleway alongside for 1.2km of its length. The scheme will remove the at-grade Greenway crossing at Kilmeena (replacing it with an underpass) and improve 6 existing side road junctions.
The scheme will generate positive safety, environmental, accessibility, social and integration benefits.
Meath
N51 Junction Ballyboy
The N51/R164 Ballyboy junction is located 2km north of Athboy Village. The current arrangement entails traffic travelling on the N51 from Navan towards Athboy stopping and giving way to traffic travelling on the regional road from Kells towards Athboy. It is at this point that the regional road terminates. The geometric design of the existing N51 is poor with a number of relatively severe horizontal curves.
The proposed improvement involves realignment of 990m of the existing section of the N51. This proposal will reverse the priority of the junction, giving traffic travelling on the N51 National route priority over the regional road and remove several dangerous bends.
Roscommon
N61 Rathallen/Treanagry Realignment Scheme
The N61 Ratallen/Treanagry Realignment Scheme involves the realignment of two sections of the N61. The first section at Treanagry is located approximately 2 km north of the N61/R370 junction and the second section at Ratallen is located approximately 1 km south of the same junction.
These sections of the N61 are deficient in terms of road width, horizontal and vertical alignment, and overtaking opportunities. This work will be very welcome due to the safety improvements.
Improvement works involve the realignment of approximately 1.1 km of road at each of the two locations. Approximately 40% of the realignment works are off-line and generally in cuttings. Online works involve reconstruction of existing bog rampart sections and tie-in sections. The realigned section would be constructed as a Reduced Single Carriageway (7.0m carriageway with two 0.5m hard strips).