Tullamore bypass opens

Taoiseach Brian Cowen will officially open the long-awaited Tullamore Bypass today (Friday). Rush hour traffic on the town's streets will be no more after 2pm today, as the 14km road will remove around 10,000 vehicles a day from the town centre at peak times. The Taoiseach will open the road along with the Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council Noel Bourke, other local councillors and officials from the National Roads Authority. Mr Cowen will neatly complete the cycle of construction as he turned the sod on the project when it began in early 2007. The road was built at a cost of €116 million and arrives after many years of local campaigning. It's expected that the bypass will save around 15 minutes travel time on cross-country journeys that traditionally had to go through the county town on the N52 and will also benefit locals working on different sides of the town. Approximately 11.5km of standard single carriageway and 2.5 km of wide single carriageway were constructed. The bypass departs from the existing line of the N52 in the townland of Heath, approximately 6km southwest of Tullamore town, and rejoins the existing N52 in the townland of Gormagh, approximately 3km north of Tullamore town. It crosses the Grand Canal and also the railway line. There's a new bridge at Cappincur. The development also involved the construction of six under-bridges and one over-bridge. The section of the road at Ballard, which is the new route to Kinnitty, is already open. The contractor was Graham PT McWilliams.