Preferred route emerges for new Bridgend bypass
The preferred option for the new road, if finally selected, would bring traffic north of the village
An emerging preferred route corridor for a proposed new road from Bridgend to the border has been identified.
The preferred option for the new road, if finally selected, would bring traffic north of the village.
A preferred route corridor of about 200 metres wide is going out to public consultation starting today.
The route corridor is the preferred option but not necessarily the final one, local councillors were told at a workshop on the project on Monday. The preferred corridor was selected ahead of four other options: another route north of the village, a route through the village, a route south of the village, or no new road.
The public consultation which begins today is the third on the N13 improvement project in just over a year.
Research has identified the border crossing at Bridgend as the most strategically important and busiest crossing point between Donegal and Derry.
Transport infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Donegal County Council have been exploring the options for improving the road.
A public display of the emerging preferred option is taking place in An Grianán Hotel, Burt between 12pm and 8pm.
The need for a new road from the village to the border has been identified due to significant congestion caused by the high traffic volumes coming through the village.
Almost 17,000 vehicles pass through the village daily. The high number of right turns has contributed to a collision rate above the national average.
Planners believe a new road could help alleviate what they say is a predominantly car-centric and congested environment in the village which has “limited facilities for pedestrians and no cycling facilities”.
Heavy housing development underway on the Derry side of the border is expected to only increase traffic using the N13 between Derry and Bridgend in the coming years. A new road would also match planned improvements on the other side of the border with the A2 Buncrana Road project.
If it proceeds, it would be the biggest road project undertaken in Inishowen.