PLANNING documents have been submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála for a major road infrastructure project in Donegal.
The long-awaited Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) includes targeted improvements on three sections of the national road network, including the proposed bridge across the River Swilly.
The project will address legacy issues surrounding connectivity and the lack of infrastructure and investment that currently face the county, which is almost entirely dependent on road infrastructure.
The infrastructure project – the biggest that the county has ever seen – has an estimated cost of between €780 and €915 million.
The submission also includes the formal notification of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) in the coming days.
In total, just under 1,500 acres are to be acquired and a total of 475 people will be affected.
This will be followed by an eight-week public consultation which will commence on Friday, May 15. The planning documents will be on display in Public Service Centres in Lifford, Stranorlar and Letterkenny and available to view on the council’s website.
If planning is approved, the main construction phase of the project, which is estimated to take five years, could potentially be completed by 2032.
Game-changer
Speaking to the Donegal News, Cllr Donal Coyle welcomed the progress on the project which he has been pushing for since he was first elected to Donegal County Council in 2019.
“This is what we have all been waiting for.
“The term game-changer is bandied about at times, but this certainly will be a game-changer – not just for Donegal but for the whole north west,” he said.
Cllr Donal Coyle.
Cllr Coyle spoke of the necessity and need for each section of the project.
The first section of the TEN-T project is the proposed by-pass of the Twin Towns, which is often referred to as a ‘bottleneck’.
The most recent figures show over 14,000 vehicles passing through Ballybofey and Stranorlar, but with the by-pass that figure reduces to just over 3,000 vehicles.
Travelling 10km north is the second section of the project from Letterkenny to Manorcunningham, and the bridge across the Swilly.
Recent figures show close to 40,000 vehicles currently use the four-lane road coming into the town. With the proposed project this number would almost halve.
“It will not solve all the traffic problems in the town of Letterkenny, but it will certainly alleviate a lot of the congestion,” Cllr Coyle added.
The third section is the proposed carriageway on the Manorcunningham to Lifford stretch of the project.
The Letterkenny councillor spoke of the relief for those who have been awaiting the formal CPO notification.
“Some of them have known for years that they were going to lose their homes but they were in a situation where they were waiting and waiting for their compensation.”
Cllr Coyle praised the staff of the National Roads Office in Donegal Town, including Senior Engineer Damian McDermott.
“There is an awful lot of work involved to get the project to this stage.”
“Fingers crossed that the planning goes through,” added Cllr Coyle.