The contract for the construction of the country's first public-private partnership (PPP) road was signed this morning.
The deal to construct the multi-million euro N4/N6 Kilcock-Kinnegad motorway scheme was signed by the chairman of the National Roads Authority (NRA), Mr Peter Malone, and representatives of the successful consortium, Eurolink.
Work on the motorway, the use of which will be tolled, is set to start in May and last for three-and-a-half years. The road will by pass Kinnegad, Clonard, Moyvalley and Enfield, and is designed to ease traffic congestion at notorious bottlenecks on the N6. The new by-pass will open in late 2006.
The deal ensures Eurolink will, over a 30-year period, recoup its construction and maintenance costs by charging tolls. This is the NRA's first inter-urban public-private partnership scheme award.
The Eurolink consortium comprises the Irish firm SIAC Construction and Cintra Concesiones de Infrastrucutras de Transporte, a multinational Spanish firm.
The N4/N6 Kilcock-Kinnegad scheme is one of 11 PPP projects under consideration by the NRA. The awarding of contracts for three further schemes - the M1 Dundalk Western Bypass, N8 Rathcormac/Fermoy Bypass and the N25 Waterford Bypass - is expected over the next 12 months.