'Progress at last' for N52 Tullamore to Kilbeggan link road in national plan
The long-running campaign for a link road on the N52 between Tullamore and Kilbeggan received a major boost this week with confirmation that the project has been formally included in the Government's National Development Plan (NDP).
The news, which was announced as part of a €24.3 billion sectoral investment plan for transport, has been hailed as “progress at last” by Offaly Fianna Fail TD, Tony McCormack, who said that having the key infrastructural project for the county being classified as advanced for future construction is “a major milestone.”
Describing the link road project as being “at the heart of the Durrow community” Deputy McCormack said he had worked closely with Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien to progress the project since being elected to the Dáil.
“I know how much this means to the Durrow community, not just in terms of improved safety on their own doorstep but also in terms of how it strengthens connectivity across the entire county,” the local TD said.
"This project will support enterprise, investment and future opportunities in tourism.”
While acknowledging that the development of the N52 Link Road will “take time” Deputy McCormack said the fact that it is now included in the National Development Plan will enable a number of key actions to be taken to advance the project.
The members of the Durrow Community Development Committee have been waging a very high-profile campaign for a number of years to ensure construction of the new link road.
Reacting to the latest news from the Department of Transport, chairman of the group, Charlie Kelleher, said it was “positive” but he cautioned that the construction of the proposed road was “still a long way off,” adding that “it could be nine years plus” before construction gets underway.
With over 18,500 vehicles travelling through Durrow on a daily basis, Mr Kelleher estimates that traffic will be “bumper to bumper” the whole way from Tullamore to Kilbeggan before construction begins on the new road.
“It needs to be done as soon as possible, and what is important at this stage is that we now have it in the National Development Plan, so we are optimistic that it will pass through all the various stages without any further delays.”
Expressing his thanks to the local public representatives who have “worked tirelessly” to keep the new N52 link road at the top of the political agenda, and to the local community in Durrow who have been “strongly supportive” of the campaign to have the road built, Charlie Kelleher said the members of the local development committee “will be watching” progress on the project.
“We cannot allow the ball to be kicked out of the field again, as has happened us twice before,” he added
The original plan to build a link road between Tullamore and Kilbeggan dates back as far as 2011, when preliminary plans and funding discussions for the project were first mooted.
However, the plans were shelved during the economic recession and did not re-emerge again until 2018 when the proposed road was identified in the National Development Plan.
The proposal is for an 8.1km route, which would run directly from the Dublin-Galway motorway to the Tullamore town bypass. The route would incorporate some 3.3km of the existing stretch of road between Tullamore and Kilbeggan.
Despite the fact that the preferred route for the new link road was published in May 2023, progress has been stalled repeatedly due to a lack of funding. The project was originally costed at €77.2 million.