New Ballymahon to Athlone route could take years to build
The construction of a new carriageway between Ballymahon and Athlone could take another three years before any sign of construction work can get underway.
They were the sobering words used to sum up the state of the new N55 route corridor at last week’s Ballymahon Municipal District meeting.
Donal O’Donoghue, from Westmeath County Council’s National Roads Office said while a decision had been taken to press ahead with a new road to connect the two towns, a number of issues had yet to be overcome.
“It will be a whole new transport model which will encompass active travel, public transport and private vehicles,” he said.
“The constraints are a huge number of archaeological and heritage in the area and the environmentally sensitive area.”
Mr O’Donoghue estimated the overall project spend to be in the region of €100m, but stressed its future very much rested on the financial backing provided by state agency Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
“The construction costs budget is anywhere between €90m and €100m,” he said.
“For TII to fund that it will take a significant contribution from them and we will have to look at the best ways to try and get funding from them to advance the scheme.
“For us to prepare all the detailed design it could possibly take two to three years. In 2026 we will have design ready to go but obviously all of these schemes are subject to TII approval and funding from the Department of Transport.”