From top: Google Map from Westport to Turlough in Co Mayo; Google Streetview image of N5 between Castlebar and Turlough; Leo Varadkar with Minister for Rural & Community Development Michael Ring at yesterday’s announcement of a €240m Mayo road upgrade
Yesterday.
Rural and Community Development Minister and Mayo TD Michael Ring confirmed that the Government will spend €240million on upgrading the N5 Westport to Turlough road in Co Mayo.
The upgrade is planned to include 20km of dual carriageway and a 2.5km link to the N59, while Mr Ring said it will be the largest ever Government investment in Mayo.
He also reportedly said people in the area have been waiting for the road project for 25 years.
Further to this…
Green Party’s Saoirse McHugh last night tweeted about the news, saying:
“This will take a journey of 20mins down to one of 15 mins.
What a phenomenal waste of money.
Who is this even for!?
Perhaps, instead of spending years ploughing up the countryside for a road nobody has ever mentioned wanting, we could start local energy projects?
Rural Ireland isn’t emptying out because of lack of roads.
Farmers can’t sustain themselves, markets and small shops are gone because of big supermarkets, there are no fish left and even if there were the piers are falling into total decay.
We need a proper vision for rural Ireland where small producers and processors can survive.
We need intervention in the housing market so people can find somewhere to live.
We need agricultural reform, fisheries reform, public transport, etc.
I’ve lived in Achill most of my life and have never ever heard anybody talk about needing a dual carriageway.
And all this in the middle of a CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY EMERGENCY.”
…the Ringer Road…
Apt.
But not as good as the time a few years back when 3 Healy Rae’s each claimed credit for the Castleisland bypass, whereafter it became known as the triple bypass.
Has anyone explained why a road which average about 9,500 cars a day needs a dual carriageway? It’s a colossal waste of money.
And there’s nothing wrong with the road that it’s replacing, either. It’s not a dual carraigeway, but it’s mostly a good quality, wide road, hardly worth €240m which could be better spent on other, more worthy capital projects.
And €9 allocated for cycling, countrywide, most of which to be spent on greenways, when tens of thousands of people could be encouraged out of their cars if it was safe to commute by bike. So much for 10% of the transport budget (~€270m?)
Sorry, €9m actually. But may aswell be €9, for the effect it will have on encouraging women and children especially to cycle
6 fatal collisions on the road between 2005 and 2016.
https://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Road-Safety/RSA-Statistics/Collision-Statistics/Ireland-Road-Collisions/
So we should lower the speed limit then?
So spend 30 million maybe on widening/straightening the worst stretches?