Tenders sought for N22 bypass

THE long-awaited N22 Baile Bhuirne to Macroom bypass has taken a step closer to fruition with Cork County Council opening up the pre-qualification tender process to contractors for its design and build contract.

The detailed description posted to the etenders.gov.ie website last Friday said the development would incorporate the construction of an approximately 22km upgrade to the main N22 Cork-Tralee road, to be constructed offline.

It said the project would require the construction of Type 2 dual carriageway, a number of interchanges, river and road bridges, local road re-alignments, underpasses and culverts.

The work will also entail what was described as “environmental mitigation and traffic management”, all in close proximity to environmentally sensitive sites and sites historical and cultural significance.

According to the documents the estimated value of the contract will be in the region of €9 million with the project set to take three years to complete.

Welcoming the latest development the Kerry Fine Gael TD and Junior Minister at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin, said it represented “another significant step forward” in the campaign to build the new road.

He said advance works along the route, which commenced early last year, were ongoing with site clearance works, archaeological investigations and fencing-off along the route already well underway.

Minister Griffin vowed to follow the issue closely with all relevant stakeholders, including Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Cork County Council, to ensure that construction work on the road gets underway next year.

“I have campaigned hard for this new road for more than 10-years. It is very close to full construction following recent developments, with the major step being its inclusion on the Capital Plan (2015),” he said.

“I fully intend to see this project through so that everyone will be able to benefit from the enormous socio-economic benefits that it will bring.”