Gort to Crusheen road contract signed

Date Published: 06-Nov-2008

AS the contract for the new dual carriageway from Gort to Crusheen was signed this week, the focus of attention now switches to other roads projects in County Galway which are under threat.

The National Roads Authority are due to meet within the next meeting to reveal which projects will proceed – and which ones are for the chop. As far as County Galway is concerned, there are serious doubts about the Oranmore to Gort section of the N18 proceeding while all eyes will be on the proposed new M17 motorway to Tuam.

The M17 is being constructed on a public private partnership arrangement but the current financial crisis has cast doubts about the funding for such a huge project being available to the private sector.

The construction costs of the M17 is in the region of €200 million in addition to the €40 million it will cost to provide the Tuam bypass. Recently it was announced by the financial institutions that they were very reluctant to fund any project in excess of €100 million in the case of a public private partnership arrangement.

It is expected that the continuation of the M17 from Tuam to Claremorris will not proceed in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, one of the projects that will definitely proceed is the Gort to Crusheen dual carriageway as SIAC Wills JV Limited were announced as the contractors for the project. The contract provides for…