THE long awaited Joe Bonner Link Road was officially opened last week by Cllr Rena Donaghey, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council.
The project, which has faced major delays, will provide a connection between the Neil T Blaney Road and the Port Road and incorporates footpaths and cycleways with the junction with the Neil T Blaney Road due to be signalised before the end of the year.
The road has been constructed across difficult ground conditions and has been future proofed with the provision of foul sewer, watermain, ESB and telecommunications infrastructure in collaboration with Irish Water, ESB and Telecommunication companies.
The project was funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Designated Urban Centre Grant Scheme (DUCGS) and Donegal County Council. The ERDF fund was administered by the Northern & Western Regional Assembly.
Speaking at the opening, Cllr Donaghey, stated that “The Joe Bonner Road is an important strategic link in the Letterkenny Road Network. Named after the late Joe Bonner, an entrepreneur who developed the Port Link Business Park. I know there are some members of the Bonner family present today and I’d particularly like to welcome them.”
Members of the Bonner Family at the official opening of the Joe Bonner Link Road together with Cllr. Rena Donaghey, Cathaoirleach, Donegal County Council, and Cllr.Donal Coyle, Cathaoirleach, Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District
She thanked everyone who worked on the project and said this new section of roadway represents another high quality addition to the roads infrastructure in the county that will serve the people of Letterkenny and Donegal into the future.
Also speaking at the opening, Cllr Donal Coyle, Cathaoirleach of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District said that he “acknowledged the funding from the ERDF but would also like to commend the vision of the former Letterkenny Town Council who ring fenced monies for this road over many years and made sure it would be available to co-fund with the ERDF funding.
“This was a longstanding ambition of the former Letterkenny Town Council and it is great to see it finally in place now. We expect that this new section of road will help to address some of the traffic problems in Letterkenny and will complement other planned improvement works such as the signalising of the Pole Star roundabout and the Ballyraine road that have recently commenced”.
Brendan O’Donnell, Director of Services, officiated the proceedings and in addition, Mr John McLaughlin, CEO of Donegal County Council also added his compliments and thanks to all those involved in the delivery of the project.
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