The latest phase of the M1 motorway between Dublin and Belfast will be funded by toll revenue, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern, announced today.
The 11-kilometre route, which is expected to be open by the end of next year, will bypass Dundalk and bring the motorway just 10 kilometres south of the Border.
At a ceremony to mark the signing of contracts, Mr Ahern said the new motorway would cut 30 minutes off peak journey times between Dublin and Belfast.
He said: "We are bringing Dublin and Belfast closer together thanks to this bypass. Journey times are being cut and when the final section of motorway to the Border is complete, all that will remain is the stretch in the North to facilitate a motorway linking the two largest cities in Ireland."
"For the people of Dundalk it brings the attraction of removing thousands of cars from the existing bypass, making the lives of everyone in the area much easier."
The Dundalk bypass is the NRA's second major inter-urban Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme contract award, and the third PPP scheme to be signed by the NRA in the context of the current Irish National Development Plan 2000-2006.
The Government has allocated €10 million for the design of this final stretch of motorway to link Dublin with the Border.
