The preferred option for the new N6/M6 Dublin-Galway road is through Co Offaly, passing close to Tullamore, it was announced at separate meetings of Offaly and Westmeath county councils yesterday.
The announcement, which was made by the National Roads Authority (NRA), is a clear win for business and cultural interests in Tullamore, Co Offaly, who had lobbied hard to have the route selected.
Mullingar Chamber of Commerce also lobbied to have the N6 come close to the town, arguing that it and the N4 Dublin-Sligo road could share road-space between Dublin and Mullingar.
To be built as part of the National Development Plan the motorway will pass 4 km north of Tullamore and about the same distance south of Kilbeggan. Travelling westwards it will pass north of Clara before arching north-west to link in with the existing Athlone bypass.
The 60 km motorway cost is estimated at £151 million and is to be completed before 2006. It includes 30 bridges and five interchanges and is expected to carry 20,000 vehicles a day.
The route of a further section of the N6/M6 between Athlone and Galway has yet to be determined, although the NRA has commented that the most direct route would be through Athenry, passing close to Galway Regional Airport.
Yesterday's announcement means that travel times from Co Offaly to Dublin will be improved through access to the new road but also through an upgrading of the Tullamore-Kilbeggan route which will feed onto the proposed road at a new interchange.
Work is due to start this year on the new Kinnegad-Kilcock road. Taken together the proposed schemes will create a complete motorway between Kilcock, Co Kildare, and Galway city.
The route announcement was greeted yesterday by Mr Joe O'Brien, manager of the Tullamore Court Hotel and a member of the North Offaly Roads Action Group, who said that people in the town were "delighted".
The action group had canvassed the local TD, who is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, who both publicly supported the Tullamore option.
The action group had pointed out that should the new motorway pass north of Kilbeggan, Co Offaly would be left with no roads of motorway standard. This, they said, would be bad for the economic development of the county.
The campaign also cited Industrial Development Authority comment that it was difficult to locate foreign investment in Co Offaly because of the lack of motorways and the condition of local roads.
In Mullingar business interests were said to be disappointed, although a chamber of commerce spokesman said they would still have the N4 route along the Mullingar bypass, and that the section of road between Mullingar and Kinnegad, where the N4 will meet the M6, was currently being upgraded.