Cathaoirleach Councillor, Ciaran Brogan, will turn the sod on three key infrastructural projects in Letterkenny today.
These projects include the construction of the Joe Bonner link road, new car parking facility on the site of the former Fire Station on the High Road and the construction of the N56 Kiltoy Roundabout.
These projects represent a significant investment for Letterkenny and Cllr. Brogan believes that these projects are vital for the future development of the town.
“Letterkenny is the largest town in County Donegal. It is designated as a Gateway under the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) with a significant increase in population forecasted. With the growing nature of the town it is imperative that the infrastructure in the town runs in parallel and the roads network is an integral part of this.”
Joe Bonner Link Road:
“The Joe Bonner link road in Letterkenny has been a high priority for Donegal County Council and the recent announcement of funding under the Gateway Initiative Fund is to be welcomed” stated Cllr. Brogan.
“I am delighted that Donegal County Council has been in a position to provide match funding for this project which will see the linking of the Neil T. Blaney Road and the Port Road. These are two of the main arteries within the town and this will have obvious benefits for motorists as well as increasing safe pedestrian and walking options, whilst at the same time opening up large sections of town-centre land that has not been developed fully to date.”
Construction of the Joe Bonner Link Road will start in the latter half of 2016 and it is planned to have the road open to the public in early 2017.
Fire Station Car Park:
The need for carparking in the High Road area of Letterkenny has long been identified as a requirement in the town, with several public service buildings, including the Social Welfare Offices and the Revenue Offices as well as the County Museum, all located in this area. It is also anticipated that parking demand in the area will increase with the opening of the adjacent new Court House building on the site of the old swimming pool next year.
The new car park on the site of the old Fire Station will meet that demand by providing up to 40 parking spaces, with a number of spaces for use by the County Museum, a number of spaces for disabled parking, and the remainder to be available to the public as a public car park.
The completed car park will not only help improve traffic flow and efficiency but provide a more pleasant and user-friendly car parking experience for the general public in the area.
N56 Kiltoy Roundabout:
Funding for the construction of the N56 Kiltoy Roundabout has been provided by Transport Infrastructure Ireland and will see the elimination of a sub-standard section of the N56 within the town of Letterkenny and replace three T-Junctions with a roundabout. This will substantially improve traffic flows in the area and is an important step in planning for the relief road for Letterkenny.
Cllr. Brogan said: “The Council has identified the construction of a relief road in Letterkenny as vital to the long-term development of the town and the County Donegal Development Plan 2012-2018 lists the Letterkenny Relief Road as a Strategic Project. The Construction of the Kiltoy Roundabout is the next step in building towards the relief road for the town.
“To the North of Letterkenny, improvements to the N56 have been made over the past number of years, including the new IDA Business Park Road and works from Mountain Top to Illistrin. The proposed Letterkenny Relief Road will be another important piece in the jigsaw reducing congestion and giving a high quality link from the existing N56 and North/West Donegal to the N13/N14 roads to Derry/Dublin and the Atlantic Corridor.”
Director of Roads and Housing Capital, John McLaughlin also believes that these developments are extremely important for the future development of Letterkenny and indeed for the county.
“These projects represent another step in the development of the infrastructure in Letterkenny paving the way for further economic development and investment. This is important not just for Letterkenny, but for the entire county as it is important to have a well serviced economic hub such as Letterkenny to attract industry, business and jobs to Donegal.
“It is important to acknowledge the work of Transport Infrastructure Ireland in funding improvements to the national roads generally throughout the county through major projects, pavement improvements, minor re-alignments and road safety improvements. This investment in Letterkenny is very welcome, it is great to see the works progressing and we look forward to further similar scale improvements in the coming years.”
Cathaoirleach Councillor, Ciaran Brogan.
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