Mayo roads

The last big job Charlestown’s bypass was the last major roads project in the county.

No investment in Mayo roads until 2010

Anton McNulty

CAPITAL investment on many of Mayo’s National Primary Routes is unlikely to occur before the end of this decade with the NRA concentrating on the completion of the Major Inter Urban routes before commencing on other projects.
Mr Joe Beirne, Senior Engineer with Mayo County Council, was the bearer of bad news at yesterday’s (Monday) Strategic Policy Committee meeting on Roads and Transportation. He said the construction of Phase Two of the N26 from Ballina to Bohola was unlikely to start until 2010 and there was to be a major review of the N5 project. This would include a dual carriageway from Bohola to Westport and he expected no major development on it over the next three years.
He was commenting on a letter the Council received from the Department of Transport regarding the 2008 - 2010 statement of strategy. He added that he did not think by-passes considered for towns on the national secondary routes would ‘see the light of day’ for five to six years.
“The fact of life is that Transport 21 and the National Development Plan are Government Policy and there is nothing significant in it either for Mayo. The construction of the N26 could start in 2009 but I doubt it, and I feel the tenders will be given in 2009 with the construction in late 2009 or 2010. The NRA are concentrating on the Major Urban Routes first and they will be done in 2010 and after that they will start on the Mayo roads,” he said.
The Chairperson of the SPC, Cllr Michelle Mulherin said that without a proper transport system, Mayo people had to rely on the road network which she described as ‘third world’. She added that there was no vision to deal with the lack of transport and called for Transport 21 to be revisited.
However, Fianna Fáil TD, Dara Calleary told The Mayo News that the timescale for the construction of the N26 involved it starting in late 2009 and he would be continuing to push for it to start at that time. He stated that the N26 has always been his priority and when it has started he will campaign for the N5 to Castlebar and the upgrade of the National Secondary Roads.
“I would prefer the project to start tomorrow but it is not going to happen and we have to be realistic. It was possible that the N26 would have started this time last year but it didn’t happen, but after 35 years in waiting at least the end is in sight,” he said.
Mr Beirne also poured cold water on any hopes of the Ballinrobe by-pass being prioritised. Cllr Patsy O’Brien argued that 12,000 cars were going through Ballinrobe every day and the lack of a by-pass was stifling development in the town. However, Mr Beirne said that the preferred route for the by-pass would be announced at the end of the years but said that there was a number of towns which needed a by-pass and Ballinrobe was not a top priority