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Nenagh-Birdhill motorway stretch to open
(06/02/2010)
By Peter Gleeson
The Nenagh to Birdhill section of the new M7 is expected to be open to traffic in just over a fortnight, The Guardian learned this week.
It has also emerged that the entire stretch of the motorway between Nenagh and Limerick could open in April, barring any unforeseen problems.
Sources close to the construction of the new route told The Guardian that the development of the Nenagh-Birdhill stretch is practically complete and is due to open on February 18. However, they stressed that this date could still be subject to slight change – but it any event the stretch is expected to open “shortly”.
Newport Area councillors meeting in Nenagh on Monday last also confirmed that they had learned of reports that the Nenagh-Birdhill section is to open within a couple of weeks.
Originally, the Limerick-Nenagh motorway was scheduled to open in May of last year but the completion date was put back due to unexpected difficulties experienced in its construction over Annaholty Bog, near Birdhill.
An 8km section of the route from Lisseniskey near Toomevara to the Five Alley, encompassing the Thurles Road interchange at Lisatunny, has been open to traffic since last December.
Meanwhile, a number of major road projects for North Tipperary are set to progress following the announcement this week by the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey of his spending budget on national roads for current year.
North Tipperary County Council has been allocated €3.13 million for road improvements and €1.09 million for road maintenance.
North Tipperary County Council’s Director for Roads Marcus O’Connor said the funding was slightly up on last year’s allocation. He said €100,000 had been allocated to continue the design and route selection of the bypass of Thurles.
A sum of €466,000 is to go to a traffic calming scheme on the N52 at Carrig village, near Birr, while €265,000 will go to repair footpaths around the county.
A sum of €150,000 will be provided for traffic calming measures on the Templemore Road in Roscrea and €450,000 for pavement improvements on the N62 in the town.
Some €1.2 million is to be spent on the long stretch of narrow winding road at Congar on the N52 between Nenagh and Borrisokane – the scene of numerous accidents over the years.
Mr O’Connor said that the long planned realignment of this stretch of road would now depend on getting the go ahead from the NRA to acquire land by agreement or by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). Continued from Front Page
He also welcomed the overall funding for maintenance of national primary routes, saying it would help tackle the damage caused by the recent freezing weather to the N7 near Moneygall and on parts of the N52.
Meanwhile, North Tipperary County Council is still awaiting news from the minister on a €2.7 million package it says it needs to carried out badly needed repairs on non-national routes throughout the county.
The council’s Senior Roads Engineer Michael F. Hayes conceded this week that there was “a very big problem” with potholes on roads in the county. “Roads are disintegrating in front of our eyes, ” he said.
In many cases stretches of roads were in such a bad state that they had to be dug up completely, he said.
Fianna Fail councillor Mattie Ryan said some of the potholes on roads in the Kilcommon area are so big that you could “drown a calf in them”.
Newport Area Committee Chairman Councillor Jonathan Meaney called on Minister Dempsey to speed up the process of putting funding in place to repair roads all over the country.
“Local authorities are completely in the dark over how much extra funding may be available to repair the incredible damage that has occurred to local and regional road networks during the recent extreme weather conditions,” said Councillor Meaney, who suggested that the Government could apply to the EU Rural Development Fund for aid.
Fine Gael Deputy Noel Coonan has expressed his disappointment over the rejection of the government of his party’s Dail Private Members’ Motion calling for an immediate release of emergency funding through the NRA to restore damaged roads. He accused the Government of playing politics over the issue.
Meanwhile, the County Council’s Senior Roads Engineer Mr Hayes said the council had received indications from the National Roads Authority that funding to repair roads damaged during the construction of the M7 route between Nenagh and Limerick would be made available in the current year. |
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