Motorway completed by 2017 at earliest

The completion of the long-awaited Gort to Tuam motorway will be another three and a half years away, if private funding is secured, as hoped, by the end of this year.

It now looks more likely that the new stretch of motorway will not be completed until 2017 at the earliest after the National Roads Authority this week confirmed the construction phase will take up to three and a half years.

The new stretch of motorway, which forms part of a public private partnership project, is envisaged to cost in the region of €550million.
The Department of Public Expenditure approved the allocation of funding to cover the Exchequer element of the scheme last year and work is expected to begin before the end of the year, if the private element of the funding is secured.

The construction of the 57km motorway, which will become part of the Atlantic Corridor on the west coast, is aimed at taking thousands of vehicles out of Clarinbridge, Claregalway and Tuam each day and will be toll free.

In a statement to The Clare Champion, the NRA confirmed the scheme is moving forward and there are no indications at this stage that the project would not start by the end of 2013.

Sean O’Neill of the NRA said, “Currently, the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam scheme is moving forward.  The State has made its commitment to fund its part in this public private partnership”.

He added the final funding elements need to be in place from the private community on behalf to the PPP Company for this project to commence construction.

“This final funding schedule is ongoing and we would look to sign contracts by the end of this year, with construction to commence shortly thereafter. The construction schedule on a project of this scale would be three and a half years approximately from construction start,” he concluded.