Tag Archives: motorway

FOLLOWING  weeks of speculation, Ministers Leo Varadkar and Brendan Howlin signed the contract for the M17/M18 Gort to Tuam motorway this week.The €550 million project is a public-private partnership, which will see the M18 extended 57km beyond Gort.  Work is to begin on the motorway from Gort to Tuam in the coming weeks. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin signed a contract with consortium Direct Route, which includes Roadbridge, John Sisk, Lagan, three large Irish civil engineering firms, and Strabag of Austria. 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. “This is further evidence of the Government’s commitment to improving transport infrastructure outside of the Greater Dublin Area,” Minister Varadkar said. Minister Howlin said, “I am very pleased we have achieved …

CONTRACTS to extend the M18 from Gort to Tuam will be signed today, Wednesday, paving the way for an economic boost to the region. The paperwork will be signed by Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, as well as representatives of the National Roads Authority The four-lane motorway, as well as additional roads, will cost around €550 million, and is expected to be completed in 2017. Theproject will involve the construction of 100km of roads. The long-awaited roadway will allow easier access to Clare and Shannon Airport for businesses and consumers in Galway and further parts of the West of Ireland. It will also solve traffic bottle-necks in places like Kilcolgan and Clarinbridge.  

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, …

PART of the M18 is to close for five days next week to allow for “drainage assessment and improvement works”. Clare and Galway County Councillors have been calling for a safety audit to be carried out on the motorway since 10 car accidents took place on the route on one day last December. Now the National Roads Authority has said that from Monday to Friday next the Northbound lane of the M18 between Junction 14 (Barefield) and Junction 15 (Crusheen) will be closed. The Southbound carriageway will remain open during that time. The lane closure begins on Monday at 9am and the road will reopen on Friday at 2pm. Traffic will be diverted from the M18 Northbound onto the old N18 at Barefield but will be able to rejoin the motorway at Crusheen.