Seán Crowe
Question:260. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated time for delivery of the southern distributor road in Athy, County Kildare. [42649/14]
View answerThursday, 6 November 2014
Questions (260)
Written answers
The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, in its area, is a statutory function of each road authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act, 1993. Works on such roads are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the Council.
Earlier this year the Government approved a €1m allocation to Kildare County Council to carry out design works on the Athy Bypass and prepare its submission to An Bord Pleanála. My predecessor Minister Varadkar gave a commitment (PQ 22498/14 of 27 May 2014) that once this work is done, funds will be made available to Kildare County Council to bring this project through An Bord Pleanála and to construction. These funds will be made available through my Department’s Strategic Roads Grand fund.
Given the issues that are involved in the planning process, it is not possible for me to be definitive on timelines at this particular point. This is the case for all major road projects.