Major Mayo road upgrade to be completed next year

THE N59 Newport to Derrada road project is scheduled for completion in October 2027.

The €31 million contract is 31 per cent completed at this stage, a Westport-Belmullet Municipal District meeting has heard.

Issues with delays on the five-kilometre stretch were raised with Paul Hyland of the National Roads Office when he updated councillors on the scheme.

Some lengthy tailbacks have been experienced recently, with some delays of up to three hours.

It is frustrating for locals and impacts businesses in Newport, Councillor Paul McNamara highlighted.

And there is also concern about phase two of the project, he said. It was ridiculous to wait until this project is completed before going to tender on the next phase, and he urged that it should be done straight away and get those works started before this one finishes.

Mr. Hyland said there had been a weekend when the traffic lights were overwhelmed. They had met with the contractor and adjustments were made.

A commitment was given that if the lights become overwhelmed again, they will over-ride them with people who will man them with a stop and go system to alleviate any significant delays.

Continued monitoring will take place over the summer and hopefully after that it will return to more normal traffic levels.

On the second phase, that was brought to TII and they agreed with them to procure a consultant to do detailed design for the last 10 kilometres and package it together as one full design.

It is hoped to commence that procurement later this year. It will take 12 to 18 months to do the design. But it is dependent on TII funding.

The total investment in this stretch will be €80-€90 million.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme