Advance works on €450m Limerick road project to begin next year

ADVANCE works along the route of the €450 million Limerick to Foynes road could begin as soon as next year.

The project, which includes a bypass of several towns and villages including Adare, has been approved by An Bord Pleanála – almost three years after the application was first submitted.

When completed, the 35km road will connect the deep water Port of Foynes to the current motorway network near Limerick city.

The development will include around 15.6km of dual carriageway between Foynes and Rathkeale along with more than 17km of motorway between Rathkeale and the existing motorway network at Attyflin near Patrickswell.

The project will also see the development of a service area for Heavy Goods Vehicles near Foynes and the construction of more than 60 bridges and underpasses, including a 200 metre-long clean-span bridge over the River Maigue at Adare.

Seven new junctions will also be constructed along the route of the road. Two grade-separated junctions will be installed at Ardagh and Croagh while five at-grade roundabout junctions, providing access points, will be built at Foynes, Ballyclogh and Askeaton.

Brian Kennedy, Director of Transportation and Mobility with Limerick City and County Council, says a lot of preparatory work has already been carried out in anticipation of An Bord Pleanála’s decision.

“We have been working for the last year or so in parallel with preparing procurement and tender documentation for the advance contract,” he told Limerick Live.

The advance works will see the entire length of the proposed road being fenced off. All of the service and utility diversions and relevant archeology works will also be carried out in the hope that construction of the road can start early in 2025.

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However, nothing will happen until the eight-week period to lodge objections or legal challenges has elapsed.

Around 200 landholdings will be directly impacted by the road including more than 100 farms and nine private homes, seven of which are occupied.

The application for permission to build the road was lodged in December 2019 and a number of objections were subsequently lodged.

A oral hearing, which lasted for more than two weeks, took place in February 2021 and a final decision was delayed on several occasions - sparking considerable criticism of An Bord Pleanála in political and business circles.

A report, totalling more than 500 pages, was prepared by a planning inspector and it was confirmed, earlier this month, a decision was imminent.

The formal decision to approve the project was made last week subject to compliance with a number of conditions.

According to the planning inspector's report, the new road will reduce journey times between Foynes, Rathkeale, Adare and Limerick by between nine and 15 minutes.

“Without the project in place, negative environmental impacts would continue due to high traffic volumes through the villages along the existing N21 corridor at Adare and Croagh, and also on the N69 at Kilcornan, Kildimo, Clarina and Mungret.

“This would lead to a worsening of adverse impacts on communities along the routes in terms of safety and amenity. Significant traffic delays and congestion would continue and worsen through Adare during peak times," she stated.

Welcoming the decision, Brian Kennedy says he’s confident the funding will be made available from government without delay.

“The government decision has been made that it’s a priority project (in the National Development Plan) so we would be confident that government funding for this project will not be a concern,” he told Limerick Live.