Work has begun on the biggest road project on the N7 corridor, a 28km (17-mile) motorway linking Nenagh, Co Tipperary, to the Limerick Southern Ring Road.
The road will feature a 10km single carriageway link to the old main road at Birdhill and the upgrading of 10km of the existing Nenagh bypass to motorway standard. It will also have interchanges at Newport, Birdhill, Carrigatogher and Thurles, and is to be completed by mid-2009.
A second and larger road development on the N7, the Castletown-Nenagh project, is also due to start shortly. This is a 37km high quality dual carriageway running from south of Borris-in-Ossory to the eastern end of the Nenagh bypass. Contract documents are currently being prepared.
As he turned the sod for the start of the construction work on the Nenagh to Limerick leg, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said the N7 was a particularly busy route, forming one of the State's key inter-urban corridors.
The project is expected to remove long-distance traffic from local roads and improve the overall standard of the road network in the region.
On the N7 approach to Limerick, the current traffic volume is in the region of 25,000 vehicles a day, while at the Nenagh end of the route the number is about 13,000.
"In addition to the road improvements making travelling much easier for thousands of drivers each day, the upgrade of the road will be of great benefit to the people of north Tipperary and Limerick reducing journey times and giving greater journey time certainty," Mr Cullen said.
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