East/West route finally settled on

A new consultancy study has confirmed the original route of the proposed East/West transport corridor through Carrickmacross, Cootehill, Belturbet and Enniskillen. This was revealed at Monday's meeting of Cavan County Council when members were presented with copies of the study by the consultancy team for the project, Roughan & O'Donovan AECOM Alliance. The new study was warmly welcomed by councillors, in particular the announcement that the proposed transport corridor was now being progressed to preliminary design stage with a sum of €600,000 allocated for this purpose. There has been considerable pressure from some councillors in Co. Monaghan seeking to have the new road travel via Ballybay and Clones to Enniskillen. However, the consultants examined this option and a strong factor in favour of the Cootehill, Belturbet route was the existing new road and bridge at Aghalane, which will be complemented by the new Belturbet bypass connecting as it will on to the current Cavan bypass. This takes the new transport corridor down the western side of Upper Lough Erne enabling it to skirt Enniskillen as it heads towards Manorhamilton and Sligo. Opting for the Clones route would have presented difficulties for a major highway crossing the Erne at Enniskillen. Director of Service, Joe McLoughlin, stated that the consultants were working on the project with a steering committee comprised of representatives of local authorities in the Border region. The new East/West transportation corridor connects the gateway centres of Dundalk and Sligo providing easy access to hub towns such as Monaghan, Cavan and Enniskillen on the way. In their study, the consultants state that the existing national primary road network for the Border region radiates from Dublin and Belfast with a large number of regional roads providing the means of travelling from east to west. In selecting the core route, the consultants were mindful of its potential to facilitate access from a series of upgraded connecting roads in the region. The linking of towns in Cavan and Monaghan to the new highway through vastly improved regional roads is seen as essential to the success of the project. Welcoming the latest study, Cllr. Andrew Boylan said that they were nine years waiting from when the route was originally identified. The present road structure serving towns such as Cootehill and Shercock was not suitable and he hoped that they could now get down to constructing the road. Shercock Cllr. John O'Hare congratulated everyone involved in drawing up the study. In his area of East Cavan there was a high level of industry and the fact that the study confirmed the original route was welcome news for his part of the county. West Cavan councillor, John Paul Feeley, also warmly welcomed the study and said that the project would result in the major upgrading of the N16 from Sligo to Blacklion, which was recognised by the road safety agencies as the most dangerous national primary road in the country. Sinn Féin's Charlie Boylan, described it as good news for all of County Cavan as it would pass through the entire county. He now hoped that the necessary finance would be made available to develop the road. Niamh Smyth stressed the new road's importance to the development of the business and industrial life of the county, while Sean McKiernan believed that it was now important that the national government announce a clear timetable with regard to delivery dates for the project so that the public were not cynical about it. Welcoming the forthcoming opening of the new M3, Cllr. McKiernan said that he was really excited about the motorway's potential to open up Co. Cavan. However, a bypass of Virginia is now urgently needed as was the upgrading of the Bailieboro/Virginia road to a high standard. According to Cllr. Sean Smith there was already a commitment by central government to the provision of the new east/west road as was demonstrated by the go-ahead for the construction of the Belturbet bypass. However, the upgrading of regional roads serving towns such as Ballinagh, Killeshandra, Arva and Ballinamore was vital, he said. The necessity to substantially improve regional roads connecting different towns was also highlighted by Cllr. Paddy O'Reilly, Virginia. He instanced the roads from Virginia to Oldcastle and from Virginia to Granard as being cases in point. The details of the new study were also welcomed by Cllrs. Fergal Curtin, Danny Brady, Peter McVitty and Aidan Boyle. As the owner of a haulage firm, Cllr. McVitty said that his vehicles used the Sligo/Blacklion road on a continuous basis and he had to agree with John Paul Feeley that it was a most dangerous road. Aidan Boyle recalled that when they were persuading Abbotts to come to Cootehill, the condition of the road structure in County Cavan was a big problem for the company. He now welcomed the fact that the new east west road would serve Cootehill and adjoining towns.