The €170 million bypass in Ballincollig, Co Cork, which was officially opened yesterday by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, will be completed in two phases. Olivia Kelleher reports.
Phase one completes 70 per cent of the N22/N25 improvement scheme. Phase two will be a 3.5 km completion link.
The completed bypass will remove 9,000 vehicles per day from Ballincollig, diverting over 50 per cent of the existing traffic onto the new road.
Speaking at the opening of phase one of the bypass yesterday, Mr Brennan said the new route "will give the town back to its people and allow for faster journey times and safer driving conditions for those taking the new route.
"Before the end of 2004, two other notorious traffic bottlenecks, at Monasterevin and Cashel, will be bypassed as major new schemes are opened to traffic."
The Ballincollig project was funded by the Government and by the European Regional Development Fund.
Mr Brennan said that rapid progress is now being made on rolling out a major national roads building programme as a result of a number of recent developments.
The main development is the securing of the multi-annual funding arrangement for infrastructure projects that guarantees State investment of almost €7 billion over the next five years.
"When this is combined with up to €2 billion in private investment, the result is that in the region of €9 billion will be poured into building new motorways and dual carriageways on a scale never before envisaged," Mr Brennan said.