All major towns between Dublin and Cork will be bypassed by 2009 and travel times between the two cities will be reduced by over an hour on the travel time in 2000, according to the National Roads Authority (NRA).
Details of the improvements on the Dublin-Cork road were outlined by the NRA chairman, Mr Peter Malone, yesterday as the newly-appointed Minister for
Transport, Mr Cullen, opened the €48.6 million Cashel bypass.
"That's our plan - that by 2009 we will have the road from Dublin to Cork finished. Fermoy is already started.
"For the last two years, I've been pushing very hard that we finish ahead of schedule and that we come in on budget and that's happening now all over the country," said Mr Malone.
Mr Cullen pointed out that the bypass was a major addition to the country's road network, which would take an estimated 10,000 vehicles a day out of the town centre and reduce peak traffic delays through the town by up to 30 minutes.
He added that some 60 per cent of the traffic currently using the main street in Cashel would now divert via the bypass, including some 2,300 heavy goods vehicles.
"The NRA is moving ahead and it's great to be opening a bypass that's seven months ahead of schedule," he said.
"Next month we will hopefully be opening Monasterevin, which is also about eight months ahead of schedule, so I think the programmes are really beginning to up the pace and that's to the benefit of everyone," he said after officially opening the 6.7 kilometres of motorway and 3.9 kilometres of link road.
"This project in conjunction with other projects in planning, under construction and already completed on this corridor will ensure a continuous standard of dual carriageway or motorway between Dublin and Cork - a distance of approximately 257 kilometres," Mr Cullen said.
"It forms an integral part of the overall strategy for the development of the southwest corridor to dual carriageway/motorway standard and will contribute to the social and economic development of the south and east region," he said.
The Cashel bypass extends from Garryard on the northern side of the town to Owen's and Bigg's Lot on the southern side.
In addition to link roads, it also involved the construction of a separated interchange, two roundabouts and three bridges as well as associated drainage, accommodation and landscaping works.
South Tipperary County Council - agents for the NRA on the project - commissioned artist Orla de Brí to produce a public art sculpture of the area. She developed five six-metre high bronzed male figures which represent the High Kings of Munster who sat at the nearby Rock of Cashel.
Construction - which was carried out by Roadbuild - accounted for €30.75 million of the bypass' cost, with the remainder of the overall €48.6 million being spent on land acquisition.
Asked about the controversy over proposals for the M3 motorway to pass close to the Hill of Tara, Mr Cullen said he was confident that a balance would be reached and he would be using his experience from his time in the Department of the Environment to work towards acceptable compromises.
"We can have balance in all of these projects and the NRA and the Department of Transport and indeed the Department of Environment have demonstrated that you can get good mitigation and you can get very good outcomes on all of these, and I would intend going forward to use my own experience to ensure that we do that," he said.