Over €10m for Cavan roads in 2021

The Council is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of in excess of 3,000km (1,880 miles) of road in the county annually.

Cavan County Council has received notification from Transport Infrastructure Ireland it will get €10,561,534 funding for roads in 2021, maintaining a similar level of funding to 2020.

The funding includes €3.9 million for various schemes on the N3 Virginia including the Virginia Bypass, and an allocation of €3 million towards the N55 and €800,000 to the N16 Blacklion.

The Council is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of in excess of 3,000km (1,880 miles) of road in the county annually.

The total estimated value of the road network is over €1.1billion, with the Regional and Local Road network accounting for €1 billion of this total.

Funding for the improvement and maintenance of public roads in Cavan comes primarily from three sources- Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), provides funding for National Roads with the Department of Transport (DOT) providing funding for the Regional and Local Road Network.

Technical and administrative backup for this funding is provided by the TII as required.

The council meanwhile provides a substantial annual allocation from own resources towards the upkeep of the Local and Regional Road Network.

At the start of 2020, Cavan County Council provided €2.32 million of its own resources towards the Maintenance and Improvement of the Non National Roads Network (Local and Regional Roads).

Of the major projects forecast for the year ahead, Virginia is the last remaining town on the N3 National Route from Dublin to the NI Border not bypassed. It is also the only town on the national primary network within a 100km radius of Dublin not bypassed.

In 2020 the Council have appointed JB Barry Transportation as Technical Advisors to provide all engineering, environmental, economic and appraisal services required to deliver this project through the planning and design phases.

The scheme has progressed through Phase 1 of the Project Management Guidelines and is currently at Phase 2 Options Selection.

Public Consultation No 1 was held in March 2020 and a second Public Consultation on the shortlisted options commenced ended in early December 2020. This second Public Consultation was held online due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

It is envisaged that a Preferred Route for the scheme will be established by Autumn /Winter 2021.

Separately, a section of the N55 Corduff to South Killydoon, which involved a 3.2km realignment of the N55 at two distinct locations to the south of Ballinagh, is currently in the Close Out Phase.

The council is waiting on the submission of the contractors final paperwork for the scheme.

Section B, between the townlands of Ballytrust and Mullahoran, involves a 3.7km realignment of the N55 immediately south of Section A.

The Scheme has progressed well during 2020. RPS Consulting Engineers were appointed in February 2020 for the provision of Consultancy Services for Phases 5, 6 & 7 of the TII’s Project Management Guidelines.

The Scheme is currently being progressed through Phase 5 (Enabling & Procurement) which includes completion of the detailed design and preparation of the Tender Documents for the Main Construction Contract.Cavan County Council took possession of the CPO lands during the year following issue of Notice of Entry on affected landowners in August 2020. The associated land and property acquisition processes have progressed during the year, with offers of compensation made to all affected landowners.

Negotiations are ongoing and settlement terms have been agreed in a number of cases to date with further settlements anticipated before the end of 2020.

It is anticipated that the Scheme will have reached the stage whereby Cavan County Council will be seeking TII approval to go to Tender before early in the New Year.

In preparation for a Main Construction Contract, a number of Enabling Works Contracts have been advanced during 2021.