New link road planned in Birr

Offaly County Council is proposing to develop a new distributor road linking the N52 (Birr to Tullamore Road) with the R439 (Birr to Banagher Road).

The new road will involve the construction of some 380 metres of single carriageway, 15 metres in width. Also planned are approximately 760m of footpaths (two metres wide) and 760m of cyclepaths (1.5 metre wide).

The distributor road is designed to commence at one end at Woodlands, at the existing road off the Birr to Tullamore Road, which serves as an access road to the Lidl store.

The road will commence on the other end at Cappaneale, a couple of hundred metres past St Brendan's Community School, at a point 30 metres or so inside the 50/80kph speed limit signs.

The project will also include the creation of two traffic light junctions as well as the provision of kerbing, drainage, services, public lighting, landscaping and boundary treatment.

The materials used to construct the new road will be primarily quarried materials sourced locally. Material arising from the project will be reused on the site and no significant level waste will be produced by the development.

If approved, once construction commences, it's expected that the development should be completed in 18 months.

Offaly County Council is currently seeking public views on the proposal under the Part VIII process by which a local authority engages with the public as part of a planning application for one of its own projects.

Submissions or observations can be made up to Friday, September 4 at 3.30pm.