Tag Archives: gort to tuam

THE sod turning for the M17/M18 motorway project will take place outside Gort this Friday after which work will  begin on the €550 million extension to the Atlantic Corridor. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin signed contracts last week for the road with consortium Direct Route, which includes Roadbridge, John Sisk, Lagan, three large Irish civil engineering firms, and Strabag of Austria. When completed  it will extend from Gort to Tuam and include bypasses of Tuam, Ardrahan, Kilcolgan and Clarinbridge in the south. It will also effectively bypass Claregalway. The project will create up to 450 jobs and, according to the Government, will “boost local economies in the West and ease congestion”. The jobs are expected to be created during the construction and post-construction phases. When complete, there will be motorway from Shannon past Ennis, Gort and  Galway as far as Tuam. The road will not be tolled.

CONTRACTS for the construction of the Gort to Tuam motorway are being finalised this week. There were indications that the contracts could be signed this Thursday but this has not been confirmed by the National Roads Authority, who will be signing the contracts with the Public Private Partnership Company. NRA spokesperson, Sean O’Neill said he “expects the signing of the contracts to take place in the coming weeks”. The project is valued at €550 million and will extend the M18 motorway from Shannon to Tuam. Local Fianna Fáil councillor, Gerry Finnerty said he wants to see the contracts signed as quickly as possible and is hopeful local people will be employed on the project. “People want to know what is going on with this and people want to get working. People here want the contract signed so that the work could be advertised and contractors be taken on. We have a lot of lorry drivers, machine drivers and so on, …

WORK is expected to begin on the new Gort to Tuam €550 million motorway early in the new year. Clare county manager, Tom Coughlan told councillors at a local authority meeting on Monday that a contractor for the project has been selected, with construction to begin early in the new year. The motorway will be funded by an annuity from the State to the private contractors over a period of 25 years. According to the National Roads Authority (NRA), hundreds of jobs will be created during the construction process, with the opening of the road to have a major impact on traffic flow in blackspots such as Claregalway. The Department of Public Expenditure has approved the allocation of money to cover the Exchequer element of the scheme. The NRA says it will now re-engage with the preferred private contractor to complete the new N17/ N18 route. The construction of a 57km motorway, part of the Atlantic Corridor on the west …