'A lot of anger' at another bypass of Laois town's bypass road

The continued omission of Mountmellick from the Government funding for new roads will cause 'a lot of anger', according to a Laois Offaly TD.

Cllr Carol Nolan says she is extremely disappointed with confirmation from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) that there will be no progress for the foreseeable future on delivering N80 Mountmellick Bypass which was first proposed in 1988.

The Independent TD Nolan said she had been engaging with TII and the offices of the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan after she raised concerns that plans for the Bypass would be shelved because it conflicted with the Government’s climate action agenda.

“This is extremely disappointing news from TII,” the Independent TD said.

“It has informed me that it will only deliver on Government policy relating to national roads, as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP), the National Planning Framework, the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland and the Climate Action Plan. However, as the N80 Mountmellick Bypass project is not identified in the NDP, TII says that advancement of the proposed scheme cannot be accommodated.”

She said Laois County Council were allocated €100,000 by TII to assist with the appointment of consultants to progress a Feasibility Report in 2019 after the preliminary Project Appraisal Plan was approved by the Department of Transport.

“I think there will be a lot of anger about this news today, and rightly so, given the significant amount of work that has been done on the proposal over the last number of decades, not to mention the expense that has also been incurred,” Deputy Nolan continued.

“There is a clear and obvious need for this project to proceed. Therefore I will be continuing my engagement with both Minister Ryan and TII to see what can be done in terms of finding a pathway that might allow the Bypass to proceed,” Deputy Nolan concluded.

'Excellent use' to be made of nearly €19 million for Laois roads

TII allocated over €5.2m for the maintenance of national primary and secondary roads in Laois for 2023. There as no money for new roads.

While there is no money for a bypass Laois County Council is getting a total of €2.5 million for a stretch between Kyletalesha to Mountmellick in 2023. It's Phase 2 of an ongoing project on a national road that has been described as not fit for purpose by the CEO of Laois County Council. A total of €2.2 million was allocated in 2022.

Extensive resurfacing work was also carried out on Mountmellick roads in 2022.