THE DUBLIN to Cork motorway takes a step nearer completion today with the opening on schedule of the Cashel to Mitchelstown dual carriageway in Co Tipperary.
Some 29 kilometres of new road between Cashel and Mitchelstown will link with existing bypasses of Cashel and Cahir to provide an uninterrupted 41 kilometres of motorway.
The new road is expected to cut the journey time between Dublin and Cork by about 30 minutes and contribute to road safety by removing long-distance traffic from local towns and villages. The cost of the entire route was in the region of €400 million, according to the National Roads Authority.
The contractor was Roadbridge Sisk Joint Venture and work began in March 2006. A three kilometre east-west bypass of Cahir town was also part of the scheme and was opened last October.
Today’s opening means three sections of the Dublin to Cork motorway remain to be completed. These are the Portlaoise to Culahill dual carriageway in Co Laois; the Culahill to Cashel, Co Tipperary section; and the Mitchelstown to Fermoy, Co Cork route.
The remaining sections amount to about 66 kilometres of road. The National Roads Authority said contractors were already working on these schemes and the authority was confident they would be completed by the 2010 deadline.
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