Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 July 2024
35. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if he will ensure further substantial financial allocations are made by his Department to progress the development of the East West route, with particular reference to the Cootehill/Shercock/Carrickmacross/Dundalk road in view of this road’s strategic importance for the Border region and the urgent need to upgrade same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28641/24]
View answerMy department has been working with Cavan and Louth County Councils in relation to funding projects associated with the proposed upgraded East West Link Road. As the Deputy is aware the proposed scheme would run on regional routes from Dundalk to Cavan and national routes from Cavan to Sligo.Going back some time there was a proposal for a substantial upgrade of the regional road part of the route; my department provided over €2 million to Cavan County Council, acting as lead authority with Monaghan and Louth County Councils, to progress the regional road element of the project to preliminary design stage.However, more recent appraisal work has indicated a very substantial cost if the road scheme was fully implemented. As such, my department engaged Cavan County Council to carry out a risk-based analysis for the route between Dundalk and Cavan. This analysis explored the possibility of a series of interventions which could be implemented over time, and which could improve safety, journey times, and bring consistency to the travel speed along the route. From this risk analysis individual local authorities examined if, and how, projects identified could be brought forward, while taking into account their own priorities and available resources. Following this process, my department allocated funding to both Cavan and Louth County Councils to carry out initial assessments of two possible schemes. Subsequently, both Louth and Cavan County Councils submitted Strategic Assessment Reports for these two schemes. These submissions have been reviewed and approval has been provided to advance both schemes. My department has provided further funding in 2024 for both Cavan County Council and Louth County Council to advance these schemes through to the end of Phase 2 “Route Selection” (see TII Project Management Guidelines, 3.3 Overview of Project Phases). This process is underway by the local authorities and following completion, a further review of both schemes will be examined by my department before approval to the next phase.
