Rocky road: Plan to develop 'torturous' Cork to Limerick route
One of the country's best-known rugby players recently called it a "torturous b**tard of a road" and anyone who drives the Cork to Limerick road on a regular basis cannot but agree.
A regular traveller to Thomond Park from his home in Cork, former Ireland and Munster player Peter O'Mahony was just nine years old when an upgrading of the Cork to Limerick road was first mooted in 1998.
He's now 35 years old, a family man with an illustrious career and the road remains for all intents and purposes unchanged - a hotchpotch of dangerous bends, climbing lanes, limited sections of dual carriageway, with some 625 access points along it.
Jari Howard, who heads up the N/M20 Cork to Limerick Motorway Project said Mr O'Mahony's comments "hit a real note with ourselves and landowners along the way".
"I think he summed it up well. I won't repeat the phrase - people have heard it enough - but it is a stressful road to do, especially if you have to do it on a regular basis," said Mr Howard.
Over the past three decades, some 70 people have lost their lives in road traffic related incidents along the route, Mr Howard said.
The road is considered one of the most dangerous in the country.
Mr Howard heads up the team charged with developing the design and business case for a new 80km dual carriageway and motorway between the country's second and third most populous cities.
This week he briefed more than 100 public representatives from both counties on the final design which, if approved, will cut travel times between the two cities by 30 minutes, with a completion date of 2035.
Mr Howard confirmed that the chosen route - which it is estimated to cost between €1bn-€3bn - will impact on some 200 farms, and up to 20 houses.
"All of this is impactful to the landowners and homeowners but we try to work with them to come up with designs, and mitigation in accommodation works which help minimise that impact.
"There will be points that there will be disagreement [on] and that's part of the statutory process when we go to An Bord Pleanála but they [the landowners and householders] can voice their concerns with those issues and they can be looked at by the board and then obviously afterwards, if we are successful in planning, there is a process there for valuation and compensation."
The final route includes an 80km motorway from Blarney where the existing dual carriageway is into Cork City, and up to the existing M20 at Patrickswell.
There will be a dual carriageway/motorway all the way with 100km of three-metre wide active travel paths for walking and cycling, some near the new motorway and others on the existing N20, which will be declassified.
Seven transport hubs will be created along the route at Rathduff, Mourneabbey, Mallow, Buttevant, Charleveille, Bruree and Croom with a freight hub earmarked for Mallow.
Following Monday's briefing of public representatives, the project team held public meetings in Charleville, Adare and in Mallow to brief the public.
"The whole detail is there [on the displays] from fence to drainage ponds, accommodation under and over passes, where we are re-aligning local roads or creating new local roads, particularly south of Mournabbey where we are widening the existing N20 and we have to connect the existing farms and properties because they won't be able to access directly.
"So that's 625 entrances and junctions along the N20 that we are taking down to nine. Nine strategic junctions so people will travel to these junctions to get onto the motorway from there," said Mr Howard.
The project also includes the construction of six new road bridges, eight new river bridges, two new railway bridges and up to 60km of associated local roads.
The business case for the upgrade to motorway status will go to the Department of Transport for both departmental and external review later this year, and subject to approval, Transport Infrasture Ireland will apply for planning permission for the work in 2026.
"We would hope that by 2027 we have planning, and in 2028 we can start breaking ground and do the enabling works. Our plan for this (project) is that it will be constructed in a number of contracts - three to four contracts - broken up logically wherever the new road meets the old road.
"We believe the first priority should be the bypasses of Charleville, Buttevant and Mallow. We see them going first, followed soon after from Mourneabbey to Blarney, and then from Croom to Patrickswell."
This is welcome news for the residents of all three towns, especially Charleville where in the past decade, ten pedestrians have died on the town's main street after being struck by vehicles.
Eight of these involved heavy goods vehicles, while the majority of incidents involved elderly pedestrians.
While it will be at least 2031 - another six years - before any of the bypasses are scheduled to open, Evelyn O'Keeffe of the Charleville Community Forum said they welcome the decision to give priority to the bypasses.
But she hopes the Government will commit to construction funding.
"They've committed to all the other studies - environmental, route, but, as yet, we haven't seen any funding ring-fenced for the construction phase," she said.
In the interim, she is now calling on Cork County Council to implement safety measures on the town's main street until the bypass opens.
Cork Chamber have also expressed hope that the Government will provide the necessary construction funding saying it is vital they commit to it, and to delivering the route on time.
CEO Conor Healy said: "This long-awaited project has the potential to transform connectivity in the southern region, enhancing Ireland's overall economic competitiveness and unlocking opportunities for investment and development in the south of Ireland.
"It is vital that Government commits to funding and delivering the M20 in line with the projected timelines to provide certainty for local communities, businesses and other stakeholders."
But confirmation that the route will be tolled has raised the hackles of some public representatives.
Both Cork North Central TDs - Thomas Gould of Sinn Féin and Labour's Eoghan Kenny told the Cork Echo they would strongly oppose any planned toll.
As the project team prepares to move to the next stage and submit its business plan to theGovernment before the end of the year, Jari Howard said large projects like these take time but "we design bridges and roads for 120 years - they are there for a long time but we are as keen as anyone else to get in, get started. Planning is the key and then we can really get going".
"You can see what is happening with the Adare Bypass and the Ringaskiddy Bypass - those projects took a lot of time to get to fruitition but once they are going, people are just so happy to see that work going on," he added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
John Kiely: 'It all hurts, it will hurt as much as it did last year'
JOHN Kiely doesn't have this feeling too often. Losing in Croke Park has only happened three times now, Kilkenny in 2019, Cork 12 months ago and now this, the most unlikely reversal against 14-man Dublin. Only in 2017, his first season in charge, has his most talented squad failed to reach the last four. Their consistency unmatched during that period. The fourteen titles collected in that period now feel somewhat distant. Limerick are not the leading force now, the mantle will be taken up by someone else next month. Kiely, about 40 minutes post match, arrived and as always gave his time to the media. 'Very disappointed, obviously, but we've lost to a better team on the day. Dublin deserve great credit for their performance. To win that game with fourteen men for such a long period of time is such a fantastic achievement for them. I think things stuck for them today, when they went to pick up a ball it stuck, when they went to catch a ball it stuck. They were really good on restarts, on ours and theirs. They were really, really good on the breaking ball." 'When the opportunities came in the last ten minutes they seized upon them and took them,' his side couldn't create a goal, couldn't get themselves back in front after the Dubs had assumed control with that quickfire blast. His side certainly didn't get near the level of that ferocious Munster decider, 'We weren't 100% sharp on the ball. We turned over balls that we shouldn't have, everything seemed to be that little bit harder for us. I think when you are that little bit off, it gives the opposition a chance. And I'd have to give great credit to Dublin, their performance today.' The Galbally native was full in his praise of the winning side, he wasn't surprised either, that Dublin had such a display in them, 'We had all our analysis done of Dublin, their performance levels in the Leinster Championship were of a very high level, across various different metrics. Work rate, puckouts, their accuracy has been very, very high. In one game they had over 85%. They might not have done all of those together in a single game in Leinster, but they were extremely competitive. They got their performance level right today, there is great credit due to them.' Did the Munster final take too much from them, nearly 100-minutes of toil, of battle with their neighbours, Cork? 'In a word? No. We drew the Munster final in normal and extra-time. We weren't chasing the drawing score, the penalties were the penalties.' 'We took a bit of time after the Munster final, and after the Munster final and got back on the horse last weekend. I felt the energy levels were good. Our warm-up went well today, and we started well against the breeze today, for the first 10-12 minutes. 'Whatever happened after the sending off, there was a response from Dublin that we didn't have, or give. Once they got their teeth into the contest they gave themselves a great chance. 'Goals win matches, they are a big part of it, they were two well taken goals'. 'It all hurts, it will hurt as much as it did last year, we wanted to be back in training next week'. The Shannonsiders will reflect on this, with Kiely set to continue into 2026, having agreed a two-year term last Autumn.
Irish Independent
8 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Tipperary dismiss Donegal to tee up All-Ireland SFC quarter-final clash with Meath
Ladies All-Ireland SFC, round 3: Tipperary 0-11 Donegal 1-6 Tipperary never trailed as they beat Donegal by two points in the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship at Bansha to book a place in the quarter-finals. It was Tipperary's best display to date in both the Munster and All-Ireland campaigns, racing into a 0-4 to no score lead midway through the opening half, and restricting Donegal to a single point from play in the first half.
Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Cork defeat Clare by nine parts after a strong second half performance
Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship: Cork 0-21 Clare 1-9 Cork's winning streak in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship continued in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday. A nine-point winning margin was achieved after a strong second-half performance. The victory for Ger Manley's outfit means they head into the final round of fixtures next Saturday against winless Wexford top of Group 1 and in the perfect position to take a semi-final spot. Indication of their squad depth was also highlighted by the unavailability of Hannah Looney and Aoife Healy due to football commitments. However, the hosts didn't get matters entirely their own way having led by three points at the break. Bear in mind too when these teams met in the Munster championship in April Clare lost 2-22 to 0-10. It was evident from the outset the Banner women were up for the challenge and John Carmody's youthful side were competitive. Factor in also, two one-on-one goal opportunities in second-half stoppage time from Róisín Begley and Áine O'Loughlin that were bravely saved by Cork 'keeper Amy Lee. But for now, the visitors will travel home having secured a championship knockout place in Croke Park and that has to be the first box ticked. Their game against Tipperary next weekend will determine whether they finish second or third. They got a tonic start with a green flag inside the opening minute from Jennifer Daly who soloed through from out the field and applied the finishing touches after a mere 45 seconds. The only goal of the day was immediately followed by a Caoimhe Cahill point from play and they were up-and-running. Orlaith Cahalane settled Cork with a fifth minute white flag and they would shoot the next three unanswered points from play. A goal opportunity too came their way but couldn't be taken advantage of. Impressive wing-forward Jennifer Daly raced through for Clare's second point to leave just one between the sides approaching the quarter hour mark, 1-2 to 0-4. Industrious centre-forward Saoirse McCarthy (free) Emma Murphy and Kate Wall stretched the lead. Róisín Begley won a free close to the posts for Aisling Cooney to convert - it remained a single point match with 10 minutes to go to the interval. Sorcha McCartan and Murphy points sent Cork to the dressing-room 0-9 to 1-3 ahead. The defending All-Ireland champions were a different proposition in the second half and reeled off a trio of points from Murphy, McCartan and Amy O'Connor (free) to extend their advantage. Seven-in-a-row points while limiting Clare to a pair of converted frees arrived in a productive 20-minute spell - a Clare team that had emptied the tank in the opening half. Emerging with 10 different scorers, Cork pulled 0-20 to 1-5 clear by the 50th minute despite striking 13 wides to Clare's three overall. Clare did outhit them four-one in the final 10 minutes plus three minutes of stoppage. And had those two late goals been converted the deficit would have been less again. Scorers for Cork: S McCarthy (0-5, 0-1 free), E Murphy and O Cahalane (0-3 each), K Wall, A O'Connor (frees) and S McCartan (0-2 each), L Hayes, A Thompson, K Mackey and C Finn (0-1 each). Scorers for Clare: J Daly (1-1), A Cooney (0-3 frees), Z A Spillane (45s) and C Cahill (0-2) each, N Mulqueen (0-1). CORK: A Lee; M Cahalane (Capt), L Coppinger, P Mackey; R Harty, L Treacy, L Hayes; K Wall, A Thompson; E Murphy, S McCarty, S McCartan; C Finn, K Mackey, O Cahalane. Subs: A O'Connor for C Finn, A O'Neill for R Harty (both half-time), C O'Sullivan for L Coppinger (43). CLARE: D Murphy; S Daly, C Hehir, S O'Keeffe; L Daly, A Walsh, C Queally; N Mulqueen, C Carmody; C Cahill, G Carmody, J Daly; R Begley, A Cooney, A Anderson. Subs: Z Y Spillane for A Anderson (25), D Griffin for C Queally (40), Á O'Loughlin (Capt) for A Cooney (46), C Grogan for G Carmody (50), E Casey for C Carmody (53). Referee: L Dempsey ( Kilkenny).
