TEN-T presentations are taking place today at the Donegal County Council offices in Lifford.
It is hoped that the proposals for the upgrade of three major routes will receive the green light in 2020, following numerous public consultations and the inclusion of the amendments into the County Development Plan.
Cllr Patrick McGowan requested the presentations, saying that there will be “big competition” for funding nationally, so Donegal “will need to work hard to get our fair share.”
“Donegal has been held back for many years because of the Troubles and more recently the downturn in the economy, but with the Government making plans for the next decade, it time for Donegal to be prioritised for investment,” he said.
Halcrow Barry, in joint venture with RPS, have been commissioned to work on the upgrade of three National Primary routes in County Donegal, which form part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
The three routes included within the TEN-T works are:
N15 at Ballybofey/Stranorlar. Due to the fact the N15 links Donegal with Sligo and Galway, issues of heavy congestion need to be addressed in this region, according to Halcrow Barry.
N56/N13 Letterkenny to Manorcunningham. Alongside a high volume of traffic, a lack of alternative routes results in driver delay, collisions, and poor network resilience along this road.
N14 Manorcunningham to Lifford/Strabane/A5 Link: Halcrow Barry says that this route currently has sub-standard alignment characteristics, high collision rates and congestion. They will take proposed A5 amendments into consideration.
The proposed timetable put forth by RPS and CH2MBarry this morning is as follows:
Milestone and planned completion date:
- Public consultation on constraints, 6th December 2017
- Route options developed, February 2018
- Public consultation on route options, March 2018
- Selection of preferred route, July 2018
- Public consultation of preferred route, July 2018
- Adoption of the preferred route and inclusion in County Development Plan, TBC 2018
- Preliminary Design, January 2020
- Publication of CPO, September 2020
- Publication of EIS, September 2020
- Oral Hearing, TBC
- An Bord Pleanála Decision, TBC
