Work to begin at long last on the N4 after €24m funding

SLIGO County Council received its largest ever annual allocation for roads last week from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, receiving €37,678,970.

This represents €20M more than the largest ever previous annual allocation received by this Council from TII, which was last year’s allocation of €17,661,027.

Work will get underway in the new year on the N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin project, for which €24,000,000 has been allocated. The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Councillor Baker welcomed the announcement ‘ This major investment in our national roads network is hugely significant in the context of our designation as a centre for economic growth, and it will move forward a number of important projects for County Sligo.’

Director of Services Tom Kilfeather commented ” The highlight of today’s funding announcement is the allocation of almost €24M for the N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin Scheme which means construction will go ahead in early 2019.”

N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin Road Development Project €23,891,000 THE 2019 allocation confirms that the Scheme is going to long awaited construction in the coming year. The Council will, once Cabinet sign-off is received, look to sign the contract for construction early in 2019 to allow for immediate commence- ment of work.

N4/N15 Urban Improvement €3,000,000 FOLLOWING on from the N4 Hughes Bridge Widening Scheme this is the next section being developed commencing at the northern end of the Hughes Bridge Widening Scheme and finishing north of the Rosses Point junction. It will include upgrading the National primary to north of the Rosses Point junction, along with upgrading the Rosses point, Duck Street and Markievicz Road junctions. The Copper River Bridge will also be upgraded as part of the works. The allocation of €3M will allow construction work to commence in mid 2019.

N16 Lugatober to Gortnagrelly €600,000 THE N16 in County Sligo is substandard from Sligo City to the Leitrim Border. A Preferred Route for the N16 in County Sligo was selected in 2017. This will enable the N16 to be upgraded on a phased basis over a number of years. The first section proposed to be upgraded is a 2.5km length in the vicinity of Lugatober. This scheme will realign several severe bends on the existing road and will tie-in with future realignments. The design, environmental assessments and Statutory Process has been substantially advanced in 2018 and the €600,000 allocation will allow the scheme progress to An Bord Pleanala in 2019 with construction anticipated for 2020. PAVEMENT Improvements €7,997,608 ALTHOUGH the overall sum approved for Pavement Schemes for 2019 is down by €4.2M on 2018 we still have received a very significant allocation to carry out works across the network in 2018 . Schemes are programmed for the N15, N16, N17 and the N59. Some are Schemes that had to be deferred from 2018 .

N15 Schemes €1,600,000

N16 Schemes € 900,000

N17 Schemes €1,998,000

N59 Schemes €2,500,000 MAINTENANCE €511,124 MAINTENANCE Costs Provisions (excluding lighting) in respect of the National Primary road network for 2019 are up by €31,000 on the 2018 figures. ENGINEERING Support Grant €1,012,000

THE 2019 figure is up by €96,000 on 2018. the significance of this is that it indicates the provision of an additional staffing resource particularly with regard to commencing work on Phase 1 of the statutory process for the N17 Collooney to Knock Scheme.

Councillor Marie Casserly said: “I’m delighted to see this funding come in. These works will create jobs in the area so it’s a good thing for everyone. It’s been a long time coming so hopefully work can get underway as soon as possible.”