Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
204. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if he will ensure a substantial financial allocation under the road works programme to Cavan County Council in 2024 for the further planning and design of a route (details supplied) in view of its strategic importance for the Border region and the need to upgrade this road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49191/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraProposals to deliver an upgraded East-West route linking Dundalk to Sligo, taking in Cavan, involve linking elements of the national road network and regional roads along as direct a route as possible. Essentially the route runs on regional routes from Dundalk to Cavan and on national routes from Cavan to Sligo.
As regards the regional road aspect of the proposal, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants.
Going back some time there was a proposal for a substantial upgrade of the regional road part of the route. The Department provided funding to Cavan County Council (acting as lead authority with Monaghan and Louth County Councils) of over €2 million in the period 2007-2014 to progress the regional road element of the project to preliminary design.
More recent appraisal work undertaken on the scheme pointed to a very substantial cost if the full scheme were to be implemented.
In light of that, the Department engaged with Cavan County Council in relation to carrying out a risk-based analysis for the east-west route between Dundalk and Cavan which involved exploring the possibility of a series of interventions which could be implemented over a period of time and which could improve the safety of the route, improve journey times and bring consistency to the travel speed along the route.
From this risk analysis it was envisaged that individual local authorities would examine, taking into account each Council's overall priorities and available resources, how projects identified in the risk analysis could be brought forward.
The Department has allocated some grant funding this year to Cavan County Council and Louth County Council for the initial assessment of two possible schemes. Submissions in accordance with the Public Spending Code requirements have been submitted to the Department for the two projects, and are under consideration at present. On completion of this, the matter of progression will be decided based on the outcome and availability of funding.
