Construction of a major new road between Galway city and Ballinasloe moved another step closer yesterday with the publication of Compulsory Purchase Orders for the €400 million project.
A total of 504 individual landowners and lessees will be affected by the CPOs and four houses will be knocked down to make way for the 64 km dual carriageway which will be built to motorway standard.
The main 57 km dual carriageway will link in with the 7 km single lane bypass of Loughrea and will involve the construction of junctions with flyovers and slip roads at Athenry, Carrowkeel and west Ballinasloe.
A senior engineer with the National Roads Authority (NRA) in Galway, Mr Jack Eising, said the CPOs will affect 385 land holdings and 504 individuals. This included landowners and those leasing the land from the owners.
"In the route selection process, we tried to avoid as much as possible knocking family homes as obviously this is a very emotive issue.
"Of the four houses that have to be demolished for the scheme, we have already acquired three and are in negotiations over the fourth," said Mr Eising.
As the project is being developed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, a consortium will have to be appointed before work can start.
Mr Eising said it was anticipated that construction would begin early in 2006 and finish at the end of 2008.
The project will also involve the construction of a toll plaza near Cappataggle, the first toll west of the Shannon.
"As the route involves 64 km of road, there will be some disruption but we will try to keep this to a minimum. It is a greenfield site in the main so there should be no great disruption," Mr Eising said.
The CPOs were published in yesterday's Connacht Tribune in line with the legal requirement to print them in a paper widely read in the areas affected.
People now have six weeks to submit any objections to An Bord Pleanála before the closing date of Friday, September 24th.
With 504 individuals affected by the works, the NRA expects some objections in which case an oral hearing will be held.
The CPO documents and Environment Impact Statement prepared by the NRA and Galway County Council can be viewed by the public at County Hall in Prospect Hill and City Hall in College Road in Galway; Loughrea Area Office; Ballinasloe Civic Offices; Roscommon County Council headquarters and the Roscommon area office in Athlone.
The new road will start at the existing dual carriageway between Doughiska and Ballybrit and will extend beyond Ballinasloe, crossing the River Suck and tying into the existing N6.
The NRA has another scheme coming up for the CPO process which will carry on the route from east Ballinasloe to tie in with the end of the Athlone bypass.
