Atlantic corridor to link west

01/11/2005 - 18:11:13
A high speed Atlantic Corridor will link the key cities in the west under the Government’s 10-year transport strategy, it emerged tonight.

The 350-mile route will include a tunnel under the River Shannon in Limerick, at least five new bypasses and the upgrading of existing roads to dual carriageways and "two plus one" roads.

The aim is to link the gateway cities in the National Spatial Strategy - Letterkenny, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford – to drive economic growth in the regions.

The state agency Shannon Development said it welcomed the new initiative.

“The proposed investment in the Western Rail Corridor and the Atlantic Road Corridor can be the catalyst fo the creation of a Western Economic Corridor that can compliment development on the East Coast,” said chief executive Kevin Thompstone.

The most high-profile project in the corridor is the Southern Ring Road in Limerick, which will involved creating a tunnel under the River Shannon to allow motorists to bypass the city.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) said the €300m public private partnership (PPP) project had already gone to tender and would be completed by its target date of 2009.

Work is also underway on the €119m Ennis bypass, while other bypasses are planned for Waterford, Claregalway, Tuam, Charlestown and Bundoran.

The NRA said the ‘two plus one’ road system, which provides overtaking sections for drivers every two kilometres, would be used on certain sections of the corridor.

“It’s been tried and tested in Sweden, where they find that where you substitute that type of road for the more traditional two-lane road, you reduce road accidents and fatalities by up to 50%,” said corporate director Michael Egan.

“But we’d expect the bulk of the corridor to be dual carriageway, from the Cork area to North of Galway, because of the volume of traffic.”

Under the Transport 21 strategy, other key national primary routes will be upgraded including the N21 from Limerick to Tralee, the N22 from Killarney to Cork, the N24 from Limerick to Waterford, the N25 to Rosslare, and the N30 from Enniscorthy to New Ross.

There will also be improvements to national secondary routes such as the N65 Donegal coastal route, the coastal routes in Cork and Kerry and the N81 to Blessington.