Welcome u-turn with funding now on the cards for major Waterford

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has done a U-turn on funding for the Cahir-Waterford section of a new N24 upgrade.

Plans for the Cahir- Waterford section of the project were shelved before Christmas by Minister Ryan.

After coming under huge pressure from Government Deputies, Minister Ryan, last Friday, announced €2 million in funding for the Cahir-Waterford section.

It means that the Cahir-Waterford section will now proceed in tandem with the Cahir-Limerick element of the N24 project, which includes a bypass of Tipperary Town.

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The decision by Minister Ryan to announce €2 million in funding for the Cahir-Waterford section was widely welcomed this week.

The funding will prevent so-called “land paralysis” – where a road has not had a route selected which results in multiple swathes of land being unable to be utilised for development.

There are six possible routes. Over the next two years, this will be reduced to one preferred route.

The N24 road is a national primary road connecting Limerick to Waterford, which passes through Tipperary Town, Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel.

The section of the N24 being considered by this project is approximately 60km in length, extending from Cahir to the terminal of the M9 motorway in County Kilkenny.

STUDY AREA

The study area associated with the proposed project would include bypasses of Clonmel, Kilsheelan, Carrick-On-Suir and Mooncoin.

Kilkenny County Council, as the lead authority in partnership with Tipperary County Council, have appointed Arup Engineering Consultants as technical advisors to progress the appraisal and early planning and design. The Route Options Selection stage has commenced and a virtual public consultation on constraints was held from May 4, 2021 until June 1, 2021. Initially, TII was unable to provide an allocation for this project in 2022 given the level of funding available for major roads projects.

FUNDING

However, it is now possible to allocate funding to allow route selection to progress in 2022. This is due to funds which have become available.

As a result of this, it is expected that work on route option selection can resume in the near future.

ROUTE SELECTION

This will include surveys, traffic modelling, and assessments to ensure that routes meet the scheme objectives.

In total, route options selection was originally scheduled to take 24 months, and it is now anticipated that a route will be selected by late 2023.

Oireachtas members and public representatives from throughout the county have welcomed the decision of Minister Ryan to fund the Cahir-Waterford section of the project.