Cowen calls for funding to be restored to N52 project
Local Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has once again called on the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and his Department to agree to Offaly County Council’s latest request to advance the proposed Kilbeggan-Tullamore bypass link road.
Deputy Cowen said: "Following a meeting with Tom Shanahan the Director of Services in Offaly County Council, it is my understanding that Offaly County Council has again sought reinstatement of funding to progress their work in preparation for the construction the proposed N52 project.
"It is imperative that this funding is awarded in order to avoid having to revert back to initial stages of the project first committed to in 2011. In addition to the obvious business benefits that would accrue to the region, the more important benefit is to the safety and wellbeing of staff, students and families of school going children that travel to and from school daily in fear of their safety because of the grave dangers associated with the N52."
"I will raise the matter again in Dáil Éireann in the coming weeks and place these pleadings on the Dáil’s record in order to reflect the ongoing fears of the locality. The only resolution to such pleadings is for the Department of Transport to agree to Offaly County Council’s latest request to advance the project," concluded Deputy Cowen.
His comments come as the Irish Independent reported that a briefing document prepared for Minister Ryan by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said that the failure to progress the road upgrade would result in one road traffic fatality and one serious injury during the next five years.
Nationally, across a series of stalled road projects, TII predicted there could be 77 deaths and 381 serious injuries.
Although the emerging preferred route for the new link road was published in May, the future of the project remains shrouded in doubt after it wasn't part of the annual grant allocations, for the second successive year.
The emerging preferred route for a new N52 link road from Kilbeggan to Tullamore would cost €77.2m to complete. The newly published 154-page Option Selection Report comes down on the side of the already published preferred route corridor. Option 2/3 is around 8.1km and maximises the use of existing upgraded elements of the N52, including the Tullamore bypass and M6. Around 40% of the emerging preferred route (3.3km) uses the existing stretch; 4.8km is new.
Both Offaly and Westmeath County Councils have prioritised the new link road in order to improve both connectivity and safety on the route, with very high volumes of traffic using the N52, at some 14,000 vehicles per day. Safety is compromised by a narrow hard shoulder and many at grade junctions and private access points.