No start date given for commencement of delayed N59 upgrade

The tenders for the upgrade of the N59 from Newport to Derrada in west Mayo are currently being assessed but no start date has been given for the project.

The realignment of 5km of the N59 from Newport to Derrada was suspended earlier this summer after Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) requested the Mayo regional design office suspend the tendering process due to a 'funding issue'.

The TII allocated €5.5m in February for the redevelopment of the road and the original time frame was for the tender to be awarded in July with work due to begin later in September.

In May local councillors were assured that the project would not be scrapped and at Monday's monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District, Independent councillor John O'Malley asked for an update on the project.

“Before the election we were told it was pulled but we were guaranteed by government TDs that it will start in late summer. I don't know what you call late summer but it is gone and we are beginning to come into winter and nothing is being done so far. I want to know is there a start date for that or has it been put on the long finger,” he said.

In response, Heather Gibbons, Senior Engineer with Mayo County Council explained that the Mayo National Roads Office are currently assessing the tenders received for the project and will be making a recommendation on the preferred contractor to the TII in the coming weeks.

“There is no start date but we will be making recommendations to the TII on the preferred contract based on tender assessment,” she told Cllr O'Malley.

A section of the road was resurfaced in recent weeks following complaints that the road surface had been allowed to deteriorate in recent months. 

The project is expected to take three years and will include the full reconstruction of the road including a bridge over the main road for the greenway, an upgrade of 1km of the greenway.

The realignment of the N59 from Newport to Mulranny will be completed in three stages with the Newport to Derrada section followed by a section to Newfield and the last section to be completed will be from Newfield to Mulranny. The whole project is expected to be completed by 2030.