Work to start next month on Moycullen bypass

Work is finally set to commence on Moycullen’s long-awaited bypass is to commence next month – with a two-year time scale to completion.

That’s according to local Senator Seán Kyne, who confirmed that Mayo-based Wills Bros Ltd had been awarded the contract for construction of the bypass which will cost in the region of €35m.

The bypass, which was also included in this week’s National Development Plan, was first flagged in the 1970s with planning permission received in 2012; the project consists of 4.3km of National Secondary Road and will include two roundabouts at either end of the village.

There will also be re-alignment of the Tullykyne Road and a flyover of the new bypass at Cloughaun as well as lighting in the vicinity of the roundabouts.

The bypass will include two access points to the village, at Clydagh and Drimcong and will remove hundreds of trucks and heavy goods vehicles from the village each day.

“Communities west of Moycullen will also benefit greatly from the bypass as it will mean the regular tailbacks of traffic at either side of the village will now be a thing of the past, cutting journey times at peak traffic,” said Senator Kyne.

Meanwhile, a fresh attempt is being made to persuade the government to sanction more than €20 million for the provision of an equally long-awaited bypass on the other side of the city; the Claregalway project was first floated almost two decades ago.

While senior Galway County Council officials are supportive of the Claregalway bypass, the same level of enthusiasm is not forthcoming from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) which does not see it as an essential piece of infrastructure.

As a result, the proposed route for the bypass from Kiniska on the Tuam side to Cregboy on the Galway side has been frozen – leaving local landowners frustrated and in a state of confusion.

It has prompted Cllr Jim Cuddy to table a motion calling on Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which has responsibility for the national roads network, to approve the bypass.

“It is about time we saw the colour of their money. This has been going on for the past 20 years without any clarity or commitment to the situation and the traffic is still as bad as ever,” the independent councillor added.

When the Gort to Tuam M17/M18 motorway opened back in 2017, the Department believed that this would effectively become the bypass for Claregalway but still there are mile-long tailbacks on either side of the village each morning and evening.

“It has become a long-running joke given that it has been talked about for almost 20 years without anything happening, but it is no laughing matter. The County Council want it, the Department of Transport don’t and yet a proposed route has been selected,” said Cllr Cuddy.

And adding to local anger is the fact that planning has been refused along the proposed route to carry out any agricultural developments – on the grounds that it has been earmarked for a bypass, despite the fact that there is no movement.