Cullen turns sod on N7 Nenagh / Limerick 38kms road project

Date: 07 December 2006

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, TD, today (Thursday, 7th December 2006) was in County Tipperary where he turned the sod on the N7 Nenagh / Limerick road project - the biggest single project on the N7 corridor. The project which is being constructed as a ‘design and build’ plan, is expected to be completed by summer 2009.

The 38kms project comprises 28kms of high quality dual carriageway built to motorway standard, with a single carriageway link to the main road at Birdhill and the upgrading of 10kms of the Nenagh Bypass to dual carriageway standard. The new road will link the Limerick Southern Ring Road with the existing Nenagh Bypass. There will be interchanges on the route at four locations, namely, Newport, Birdhill, Carrigatogher and Thurles. Bothair Hibernian are the contractors in charge of the project and RPS Scetaroute JV are the engineers overseeing it. The project is funded by the Irish Government and is being co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

At the sod turning ceremony, Minister Cullen said: “I am pleased to be here in County Tipperary today to mark the beginning of yet another project under the Government’s Transport 21 programme. The N7 road is particularly busy, as it forms part of the major inter-urban corridor - Limerick to Dublin. It is one of the key links between the south west, mid west and Dublin. In addition to the road improvements making travelling much easier for thousands of drivers each day, the upgrade of the road will be of great benefit to the people of North Tipperary and Limerick reducing journey times and giving greater journey time certainty.”

The project will remove much traffic from local roads and improve the overall standard of the road. On the N7 approaching Limerick, the current traffic volume is approx. 25,000 vehicles per day with levels of approx. 13,000 vehicles a day on the Nenagh stretch.

The Minister continued: “The new improved road, when complete, will enhance the daily commute from towns like Nenagh and Roscrea to Limerick city for work and this in turn will attract more people to live in this region thus benefiting all the local communities. Families and workers will be able to go about their daily lives in a more efficient way and business will be able to do business more effectively”.

On Transport 21, the Minister said: “The Government is fully committed to maintaining investment in transport infrastructure and services at a high level and to fully implementing the ambitious national road upgrade programme provided for in Transport 21. Transport 21 provides for a total investment of more than €16 billion over the period 2007-2015. This means that there will be an average ongoing investment of over €125 million per month in our national roads.”

Another road development due to commence on the N7, is the Castletown to Nenagh project. It is a proposed 37km high quality dual carriageway running from South of Borris-in-Ossory to the eastern end of the Nenagh Bypass. Contract documents are currently being prepared.

Mr Peter Malone, Chairman of the National Roads Authority said: “2006 has seen significant investment on the Limerick to Dublin N7 route with great progress on three major schemes. Two schemes commenced along the route this year, including today’s start ‘Nenagh to Limerick scheme’ and back in October the Limerick Southern Ring Road, Phase 2 public private partnership (PPP project) got underway. The Naas road-widening scheme opened in the summer, which is another major step in bringing Limerick closer to the capital, benefiting business and tourism, but most importantly of all, improving safety. We are on target to complete the N7 route by 2010 in line with Government policy under the Transport 21 plan. 2006 has been another successful year for the National Roads Authority. Working in partnership with local authorities, we are bringing schemes in on time and on budget, and we are committed to maintaining this record while building a world class road system that will cater for the future.”

Issued by: Michelle Hoctor (01) 6041089 or 087 8563070
Veronica Scanlan (01) 6041087 or 087 6430622