The final section of the Dublin- Dundalk motorway is to be opened by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, this afternoon.
The Dublin Airport-Balbriggan section of the new M1 is the last element in the chain of bypasses and new roads, including the recently opened Drogheda bypass, which from today link Dublin with Dundalk.
A further stretch of the M1 motorway, a western bypass of Dundalk, linking Dublin to the Border, is expected to begin construction early next year.
Today's opening involves two motorway contracts, Cloghran to Lissenhall and Lissenhall to Balbriggan. It incorporates a bypass of the existing Swords bypass, which was compromised by development in the area.
The new road is 16.3km long and three months ahead of schedule. It was completed at a cost of €230 million. Joining Mr Ahern at the opening will be the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, and the cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council, Cllr Michael Kennedy.
Motorists will save an estimated 30 minutes at peak times over the 16.3km and as much as an hour on journeys between Dublin and Dundalk. The motorway has provision to be widened to three lanes in each direction as traffic volumes increase.
Traffic to Dublin Airport is also expected to benefit greatly from the new motorway, with traffic volumes at the airport roundabout expected to fall to about 60 per cent of current levels.
The motorway is expected to take 30,000 cars and 3,000 trucks off the current route. It will link with the M50 at the airport, giving access to nearly all the major routes out of Dublin.
The M1 forms part of Euroroute One (E01), the only designated European route on the island. E01 will ultimately link the ports of Larne, Co Antrim, and Rosslare, Co Wexford, via Belfast and Dublin.
The new Dublin-Balbriggan section includes 13 bridges of varying span lengths and three major interchanges.
The airport and Lissenhall interchanges were newly constructed, while the Rowans Road interchange, built as part of the Balbriggan bypass, was extensively modified.
Rowans Road serves traffic in the Balbriggan/Skerries area to the east and the agricultural areas of Ballyboghill, the Naul and Walshestown.
Lissenhall serves traffic to and from areas such as Donabate, Portrane, Malahide, Skerries, Rush and Lusk and also traffic entering and leaving the north side of Swords.
The Dublin Airport interchange allows traffic to and from the airport to use the motorway.
The route also includes a bridge over the Broadmeadow estuary, a specially protected area which is home to about 200 Brent geese from Arctic Canada or Russia and 2,000 golden plovers which spend the winter on the mudflats.
The official opening is at lunchtime, and the road is expected to be open to general traffic by early afternoon.
