New £20m town bypass will divert 8,000 vehicles per day
Tuesday September 07 1999
The new road will relieve chronic congestion in Cavan by diverting almost 8,000 vehicles away from the town.
The time saving is universal because it took at least 15 minutes to get through the town.
The Minister said rising road traffic volumes were putting an increasing strain on road infrastructure.
INVESTMENT
The Government's National Development Plan 2000-2006 would provide for further acceleration of the road investment programme and would pay particular attention to the North/South dimension.
The case for increased development of roads in the Cavan area and the border region has been made in a study carried out by the North West Region Cross-Border Group and the Irish Central Border Area Network and this would be taken into account in preparation of the plan.
The Cavan town bypass involved the construction of 9.5km of single carriageway from Tullycoe on the Dublin Road to north of Butlersbridge.
The project also involved building 3.8km of link roads, a roundabout on the Dublin Road, and road bridges at Billis, Cootehill road, Ballyhaise Road and Annalee River at Butlersbridge.
Seven sites of archaeological interest were discovered during construction of the bypass.
These included five Bronze Age fulachta fiadh cooking pits as well as significant sites in the townland of Drumany spanning some 8,000 years. The NRA has allocated funds for design work on the proposed Belturbet bypass which will connect with the Cavan bypass and the Aghalane scheme.
The estimated cost of this project is £13.5m.
Planning is also underway on a scheme linking the N3 from the Dublin Road roundabout on the Cavan bypass to the N55 at Tullycoe.
The NRA has also allocated £850,000 for design work on a major improvement scheme on the N3 in county Meath, including proposed bypasses of Navan and Dunshaughlin.
LINKS
National Roads Authority chairman Liam Connellan said the Cavan bypass would improve cross-border transport links while the entire area, as well as South Donegal, would benefit socially and economically.
Michael Tobin, NRA chief executive, said the bypass would ``create a more people friendly town, free from the constraints of congestion, pollution and noise.''
``The people of Cavan can at last enjoy the resources and amenities of their town in safety and a high degree of comfort,'' he added.
- TREACY HOGAN
