Westmeath County Council is to put options for the proposed N6 national strategic corridor road, between Kinnegad and Athlone, on public display, following submissions from local residents on the £200 million project.
The N6 route, part of the main Dublin-to-Galway route, was identified by the Government last year as one of six key strategic corridors which should be upgraded to motorway or improved dual carriageway status as part of the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006.
However, according to the National Roads Authority, the options cannot yet be defined as routes. "They would be broad brush-strokes and we are only calling them corridors at this stage," said a spokesman, Mr Michael Egan, yesterday.
Westmeath County Council, which is co-ordinating the project, last month published a glossy brochure at the time of the public consultation period. In this, a total of five options for the route were considered.
Three were through northern parts of Westmeath, along the existing road, while another went to the south, into Co Offaly.
RTE Radio 1's News at One yesterday reported that the North Offaly Action Group had begun a campaign to have the route through Offaly selected, maintaining that the county would be isolated if a key corridor was not routed through it.
However, Mr Egan maintained that the NRA was mystified by the concern.
"The public consultation period is not over for this route; we are still putting the various options on display, nothing new has happened. Construction is not planned to start until 2003."
