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THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced that €241 million will be spent on improving the road network in Co Mayo.
The N5 Westport to Turlough Road Project will include the construction of 20.3km of dual carriageway from Westport to Turlough and a 2.5km single carriageway link to the N59 Westport to Mulranny national secondary road.
The development is part of the government’s Project Ireland 2040 plans and represents the largest investment of public money in Co Mayo in the history of the State.
In a statement, the government said the project will provide a “major boost” for Co Mayo and will improve road safety and decrease collisions, shorten journey times, and reduce congestion in Westport and Castlebar.
Speaking about the project, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the government is “bringing Ireland closer together by investing in roads and broadband, thereby reducing disparities between east and west, rural and urban areas, Dublin and the rest of the country”.
Transport Minister Shane Ross added that rural transport has been “an important focus for me and my department in an effort to open the country up”.
“Ireland does not just consist of cities – it also consists of very vibrant towns and villages which need to be connected to maximise its full potential,” Ross stated.
Christina Finn / Twitter
Christina Finn / Twitter / Twitter
Michael Ring, Minister for Rural & Community Development, who is based in Mayo, said the new road “will result in safer and less time-consuming journeys, as well as cleaner air and significantly less traffic in the towns of Westport and Castlebar”.
“On a strategic level, it will encourage investment, support employment and greatly enhance connectivity in the region,” Ring added.
The project also includes the following:
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Any news on the Maccroom bypass minister?? All well and good announcing things but when the shovel is ready it’s a different story. Read your local newspapers for the next few weeks people there will be all sorts happening around your areas. If you smell an election cooking
Cork to Limerick Motorway. Cork to Limerick Motorway. Cork to Limerick Motorway. Cork to Limerick Motorway. Cork to Limerick Motorway. Cork to Limerick Motorway.
@KDoyle: Pfft. They’re only the second and third largest urban centres in the country
@KDoyle: is that not done yet..?
@KDoyle: Climate change climate change climate change climate change climate change climate change
@Tweety McTweeter: I am afraid you are wrong, cork is third after Belfast and Limerick is fifth after Derry although we have motorways to every major urban area or Dublin to Belfast, Dublin to Cork, Dublin to Limerick, Dublin to Waterford, Dublin to Galway, Tuam to Limerick, Dublin to Wexford but unfortunately the Dublin to Derry motorway stops outside Ashbourne over 120 miles from Derry. So stop complaining when and area like Mayo gets what they are long over due and if you draw a line from castle Dawson in Co Derry to Cliffden in Galway there is not a motorway kind in over 25% of the landmass of this country which is home to approx 1 million people when you count Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon
@Tweety McTweeter: @Tweety McTweeter: I am afraid you are wrong, cork is third after Belfast and Limerick is fifth after Derry although we have motorways to every major urban area or Dublin to Belfast, Dublin to Cork, Dublin to Limerick, Dublin to Waterford, Dublin to Galway, Tuam to Limerick, Dublin to Wexford but unfortunately the Dublin to Derry motorway stops outside Ashbourne over 120 miles from Derry. So stop complaining when and area like Mayo gets what they are long over due and if you draw a line from castle Dawson in Co Derry to Cliffden in Galway there is not a motorway kind in over 25% of the landmass of this country which is home to approx 1 million people when you count Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon
@KDoyle: What about the Limerick to Cork motorway?
@PAUL MELAUGH: I’m afraid it’s you that is painfully wrong. Cork and Limerick are number 2 and 3 in urban population. Cork as a county alone has roughly the same population as every county in the west of Ireland put together. Belfast is in the north and no amount winging is going to change that. It’s part of the UK and we don’t make it’s decisions. Do I really have to tell you this or are you smoking the leprechauns pipe. The person you replied to in your last message never begrudge any roads being built outside Dublin.
Wow, changing the windy road from Castlebar into Westport into a dual carriageway is quite a project. Should be very useful.
@WoodlandBard: until people object to it left right and centre
O My God?, Ring has done more for Mayo than Inda ever done in 40 years.
@Eugene Comaskey: And the euromillions did more for the country then both of them combined!!
@Eugene Comaskey: And the Euro millions did more for the country then both of them combined!!
@IAN HAMROCK: you can say that again
To bring Sam back ???? I doubt that.
So when is the election, not being cynical or anything loike.
Its taken years in planning , hope it goes through , a truly wonderful place to visit .
I did the archaeology on these sites in 2016 ahead of the road works.
Some very windy roads.
No dual carriage way servicing the the north west. Forgotten as usual. Joke from our photo bomber of a minister.
Meanwhile a whole 31million has been allocated to Waterford city the regional city of the south east for 2019-2027 for a cancer care unit that the HSE cannot afford to staff.thats the only thing Waterford city is getting for the next 8 years in the government capital projects!!to say we have been neglected here by fine Gael is a understatement.
@dick dastardly: Waterford isnt a FG base so they cant be bothered. Whereas Mayo is Enda country.
@dick dastardly: waterford got a motorway that is still the most lightly used In Ireland.
Good news!
So no mention of yet another pay rise for TD’s..https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/government-signs-off-on-2-2m-salary-topups-for-tds-and-senators-35396126.html
Great photo. Two clowns
We need houses and healthcare and they build anothefmr road /facepalm. Wonder if the carbon tax is funding this
@Chris OB: where’s Cork?
Wtf Mayo isn’t Dublin though??
Waste of money and waste of carbon budget. This will drive up emissions, increasing our EU fines.
@Oisín O’Connor: it’ll reduce emissions by reducing travel times.
@John Moylan: by about 5 minutes. A shocking waste of taxpayer money. A backwards step, for our supposed “green-minded government”.
Sounds like a very transparent fair allocation
About time ! Well done the Ringer and f**k the begrudgers
In fairness, that road needs to be done.
Good luck with the planning judging by the galway City bypass and clifden road.
There is a certain Ring about that Story
Shane Ross is the greatest stroke merchant of all time a true GOAT
Of course I agree with the Westport Castlebar road being upgraded . It is a dangerous road . But .,,,,. Does it require a dual carriage way ??? I don’t think so . A good two way road with over taking lanes every couple of km on either side would suffice . Surely it would cost considerably less and the balance of the money be used to upgrade roads that is badly needed in other parts of the county .
@Bossman Ben: this bady needs a dual, if you dont travel it you have no idea!
@Bossman Ben: this bady needs a dual, if you don’t travel it you have no idea!
@Bossman Ben: this needs a dual, if you don’t travel it you have no idea!
What a contradict ion ,carbon tax increase not to mitigate climate breakdown but to make money for revenue… Destruction of hundreds of thousands of trees and thousands of hectares of semi natural habitats, wetlands etc is going to increase the balance in favour of more carbon emissions instead of trying to increase absorption rate…. Ireland is becoming like America inter state highways… More islands cutting off wildlife survival. Ross is disengaging Brian from mouth as usual…he wants the country people off the road,to facilitate tourists,developers,land grabbers from Dublin. My vote is not for Leo or Ross or Ringo…go to hell
Wait for mayo masses to start moaning…..but Dublin get more!
Once again preferential treatment for some counties over others. We should invest in a motorway on the Western Link. Upgrade Lifford to Letterkenny, bypass for Ballyboffey & Stranorlar. At the same time while upgrading new cycle tracks should be included to reduce carbon emissions. Fanciful thinking as Dublin through to Galway gets all the funding.
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