Cabinet approves €450m N5 road project

Michael Bolton

A project to alter the N5 between from Ballaghaderreen and Scramoge has secured Cabinet approval.

Confirming the approval, the Department of Transport said the estimated total cost of the project is now €450 million due to "inflationary pressures alongside rising costs of construction materials and elevated levels of shipping and logistic costs".

The project will involve the construction of 34km of single carriageway road from the western end of the existing N5 Ballaghaderreen Bypass to Scramoge in Co Roscommon and it is estimated the works will take up to four years to complete.

The project will bypass Frenchpark, Bellanagare, Tulsk and Strokestown, however, the department said provisions will be made for pedestrian and cyclist facilities at access points to towns along the route.

The road had previously been highlighted for road safety concerns, with half of the existing route having a collision rate over the national average for comparable roads. The department noted that significant sections of the existing road have a collision rate twice the national average.

"The Ballaghadereen to Scramoge project will replace one of the most treacherous sections of primary road in the country," Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said.

"By completing the missing links in the N5 corridor it will improve access to the west and northwest.

"The new route will also make the towns and villages it serves more attractive places to live, work and shop by diverting heavy traffic, trucks and other heavy goods vehicles out of their centres."