New roads project still on the cards

Date Published: 12-May-2010

The new eighteen mile stretch of road between Tuam and Claremorris may be built as a public private partnership – but it will not be developed at the same time as the Gort to Tuam route over the next three years.

With works scheduled to commence on the Gort to Tuam motorway at the end of this year, the section to Claremorris road could also be build with private funding – meaning that between these two projects and the Gort to Crusheen motorway would involve an investment in excess of €1 billion in County Galway as well as the provision of some 600 jobs.

The successful consortium that will build the Gort to Tuam route will be decided in September with the contracts for the €500 million project being signed the following month.

There were faint hopes that the 18 mile stretch from Tuam to Claremorris could be included in this public private partnership arrangement but the National Roads Authority refuted this suggestion.

However, it could be included in another public private partnership agreement with a number of other smaller roads projects in other parts of the country and is expected to commence within the next five years.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.