An Bord Pleanála has approved the construction of a motorway south of Portlaoise, despite the rejection of the scheme by planning inspectors.
The €405 million Portlaoise to Cullahill and Portlaoise to Castletown motorway scheme will eventually form part of the Dublin to Limerick and Dublin to Cork motorways.
Unbroken motorway will now stretch from Dublin to Roscrea on the Limerick route, while Cork-bound drivers will have motorway all the way to Johnstown.
However, there is no link road joining the two roads and this is one of the key reasons the planning inspectors rejected the scheme.
Under the current plan, motorists will have to drive more than 30 miles out of their way to get on to the other road.
An Bord Pleanála overturned the inspectors' recommendation on the basis that it would hold up the National Development Plan.
". . . the board considered that it would not be appropriate to refuse to approve the proposed road development as this would entail disproportionate delay in this critical element of the national road network. . . " a report by An Bord Pleanála on the decision stated.
This is the first time the board has rejected its inspectors' recommendations on a major motorway development.
It said that "the urgent improvement" of this route was set out in the National Development Plan, with a completion date of 2006.
An Bord Pleanála considered "that provision could be made in the future for all traffic movements between the proposed M7 and M8 at or near the point of divergence of the two routes," the report stated.
Yesterday the NRA said it would fully take into account An Bord Pleanála's recommendations on improving junctions and intersections on the 40 km, wishbone-shaped route. An Bord Pleanála has outlined 11 necessary modifications to mitigate impacts of the development.
Mr Michael Egan, NRA spokesman welcomed the approval of the route and said it was a very important development in the overall scheme of providing motorways from Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Limerick by 2010.
The Monasterevin by-pass will open next Monday, a further improvement for motorists on this route, he said.
Construction of the new 40 km road would begin in 2006 and would be finished by 2009, Mr Egan added.
It will involve the by-passing of towns such as Mountrath, Borris-in-Ossory, Abbeyleix and Durrow. It will also include a toll plaza, about four kilometres south of Portlaoise. An oral hearing on the plan was held in April.
