MINISTER for Transport Noel Dempsey yesterday performed his last sod-turning ceremony for a major road scheme for the next year when he formally launched work on the next €207 million phase of the Atlantic Corridor in Co Galway.
At a ceremony on the construction site of the Gort-Crusheen bypass 3km south of Gort, Mr Dempsey said the scheme will be the only roads project to start in 2009. He said there were six or seven road projects ready to go ahead next year, but the Gort-Crusheen bypass is the only one proceeding.
"This section of the Atlantic Corridor was deliberately chosen to give a very clear signal from Government that the commitment that we have made to balanced regional development, to the west of Ireland despite the economic downturn, remains very, very strong." Mr Dempsey said the scheme marks "a very, very significant next step in the provision of the Atlantic Corridor".
The new road scheme, due for completion in summer 2011, will be just over 23km of dual carriageway in length and the National Roads Authority estimates a time-saving of 20 minutes or more on journeys between Ennis and Galway during peak hours. Already the link between Limerick and Galway has been improved through the bypass of Ennis and Newmarket-on-Fergus.
"This new road will eliminate one of the worst bottlenecks along the Atlantic Corridor," Mr Dempsey said.
