TWO new bypass routes will significantly reduce long distance driving time on the national roads network.
The Callan, Co Kilkenny, bypass was opened yesterday and another, at Portlaoise, Co Laois, opens today.
According to Mr Mick Foster, of the National Roads Authority (NRA), the Portlaoise bypass to be inaugurated by the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, this morning will knock 12 minutes off journeys between Dublin and Cork/Limerick.
Mr Liam Connellan, the NRA's chairman, said Portlaoise was at the intersection of some of Ireland's most important roads the N7 (Dublin Limerick), the N8 (Dublin Cork) and the N80 (Rosslare to the West).
The completion of the £47.5 million bypass which replaces an inner relief road, dating from the late 1970s - would remove through traffic, including heavy goods vehicles, from the centre of Portlaoise, he said.
Mr Michael Tobin, the NRA's chief executive, described the bypass as "another milestone" in the programme of improvements to Ireland's main roads, which would enable an average inter-urban speed of 80 kilometres per hour by 2005.
The Portlaoise bypass involved the construction of over 13 kilometres of dual carriageway, including 11 bridges. It runs from the Heath, northeast of the town to Clonkeen, on the Limerick road, and links up with the main road to Cork.
A grade separated roundabout interchange has been built where the three routes converge and ramps provide access to Portlaoise from the Heath and Ballydavis.
Mr Foster said the bypass meant that through traffic drivers would no longer have to negotiate a series of "very bad dips" on the old main road between the Heath and Portlaoise, where there had been quite a few serious accidents.
Meanwhile, the Callan bypass in Co Kilkenny was officially opened yesterday by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, who said it would ensure shorter journey times and make the town a more pleasant place in which to live, work and shop.
He said people in Callan had told him of the "daily pounding" which they had taken from heavy traffic, much of it heading through on the main road between Rosslare and the West. The £4.5 million bypass would bring them much needed relief.
Until the 1920s, Callan was on the main road between Dublin and Cork and the town's bridge was a major landmark on that route. It was bypassed after the current main road, between Portlaoise and Cahir, Co Tipperary, had been improved.
Mr Foster said the new bypass, some 3.5 kilometres long with a new bridge across Kings River, would reduce journey times for traffic on the main road between Kilkenny and Clonmel, Co Tipperary, by about five minutes.
In his speech at the opening, Mr Howlin referred to the Government's "outstanding record" on the restoration of county roads. He was proud to be part of the first Government which had tackled this perennial problem.
