Over €600m for non-national roads

The Government has allocated over €600 million in grants to local authorities to improve the State's non-national road network.

Dick Roche

More than 50 per cent of the funding for 2007 - which is part of the National Development Plan - will go to restoration projects.

Regional and local roads constitute 94 per cent of the overall network and carry 60 per cent of all road traffic.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche said this year's €607.525 million allocation represented a 9 per cent - or €50 million - increase on last year.

Mr Roche said he was allocating almost €225 million to the restoration programme, which would continue to be a central part of the Non-National Roads Investment Programme.

He said the 2005 Pavement Condition Study and Review of Pavement Management Systems has shown that there has been a very large growth in traffic volumes and the number of heavy goods vehicles on our roads over the last 10 years.

"The overall conclusion of the 2005 study was that the existing restoration programme requires refocusing to increase the relative level of funding to counties that have the greatest identified pavement strengthening needs."

Restoration maintenance grants are also being increased to €81 million this year.

A total of €46 million will fund 24 new strategic non-national roads schemes, including the Waterford Airport Road, the Moyross Access Road, the Clonmore Link Road in Mullingar and the Western Distributor Road in Sligo town.

Mr Roche said a grant of €500,000 to Limerick City Council will fund the design of the Moyross Access Road.

There will also be a doubling of funding for the low-cost safety scheme grants.