Atlantic Corridor
The Atlantic Corridor[1] is a road project in Ireland that eventually will link Waterford in the South-East to Letterkenny in the North-West by high-quality dual carriageway or motorway.[2] A major infrastructure project, the scheme was announced as part of the Transport 21 project launch in 2005, and is due to be completed by 2015. Some sections are running ahead of this schedule [3] with others, such as the Ennis bypass, already completed.[4] However, it is likely that major sections of the project will remain at the planning stage owing to cutbacks in the 2010 budget.[5] The Atlantic Corridor, when combined with the inter-urban motorways linking Dublin and the other cities (except Derry), will effectively ring the island of Ireland, while at the same time connecting the primary population and economic centres.
National primary roads
The constituent routes are:
- N15 linking Letterkenny and Sligo
- N17 linking Sligo and Galway
- N18 linking Galway, Ennis and Limerick (including the Limerick Tunnel project)
- N20 linking Limerick and Cork
- N25 linking Cork and Waterford
Progress
Following the motorway re-designations of 28 August 2009, 27.8 km of the route is now motorway.
Completed Sections
- N4 Colloney to Sligo
- N6 Bóthar na dTreabh, Galway
- N15 Ballyshannon/Bundoran bypass
- N18 Limerick western bypass and tunnel
- N18 Limerick to Shannon
- M18 Crusheen to Gort
- M18 Shannon to Ennis
- M18 Ennis Bypass
- M20 Limerick to Patrickswell
- N20 Blarney to Cork
- N25 Waterford City Bypass
- N25 Cork to Midleton
Currently under construction
- M17/M18 Tuam to Gort road - PPP scheme - construction beginning May 2015, to be complete by end of 2018[6]
- N17 Tuam bypass - opening in 2017
Future developments
- N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton road - construction rescheduled
- M20 Patrickswell to Blarney - planning stage[7]
- N25 Midleton to Youghal - suspended
- N40 Cork North Ring Road east
See also
References
- ↑ Atlantic Corridor
- ↑ Brian McDonald. "Atlantic Corridor roads plan starts three years early", Irish Independent, 26 January 2007.
- ↑ "Cullen speeds funding for Atlantic road", Irish Times, 1 January 2007.
- ↑ Gordon Deegan Landowners along Ennis bypass route shared in €37m payment Irish Times 19 May 2009
- ↑ Nicola Cooke Half of NRA’s projects put on hold due to cuts Sunday Business Post 3 January 2010
- ↑ NRA.ie Tender selected for M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Road Scheme NRA.ie 14 September 2010
- ↑ Eoin English €1bn Cork-Limerick motorway plan a step closer Irish Examiner, 25 February 2010