€200k allocated for N4 upgrade between Mullingar and Longford

Two hundred thousand euros has been allocated for the ongoing preliminary work on the proposed upgrade of the N4 between Mullingar and Longford from the government's €491m budget for national road projects .

Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) says that the €200,000 "will meet current project committments" for this year.

Welcoming the news, Minister Peter Burke said that he was "delighted that the Mullingar – Longford Road, N4, has been included in the announcement today of €491m to local authorities for 34 major national road projects across the country".

“I fully welcome this commitment for funding to allow the project proceed.

“This is in addition to significant investment with over €8million on Greenways, almost €5million on capital projects and almost €600,000 on maintenance," said Minister Burke.

The Department of Transport is providing €491m of Exchequer capital funds for national roads to local authorities which will see allocations for 34 major projects across the country.

An allocation of €34.85 million is being provided for national roads maintenance. The 2023 funding allocations are made having regard for the National Development Plan 2021-2030 (NDP), which balances investment in transport against other priorities of government over the lifetime of the plan. The funding announcement is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to deliver a 2:1 ratio of expenditure between new public transport infrastructure and new roads during this period.

Other priority criteria for allocation include the protection and renewal of the existing network, progression of major projects in or near construction and progression of those projects which are further along in the development pipeline. Given the competing demands for funding and prioritisation rationale, some projects will not advance as quickly this year.

Separately, funding of approximately €63 million through TII’s Greenway Programme will see the ongoing development of around 70 Greenway projects around the country. The funding will see construction continue on a number of projects which will be completed in 2023, with other projects moving through planning and design stage.

On the national roads allocation for 2023, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said:

“These allocations are an important step in a pathway of planned investment in our national road network over the remainder of this decade. As ever, there are competing demands for funding allocations for national roads and we had twice as many applications as we had budget for. Choices are made based on government policy and our climate ambitions.

"A priority for the government is to rapidly advance safe, clean, liveable towns and communities as part of our Towns First policy. The investment in by-passes particularly will help to take choking traffic out of our town centres, giving them back to residents, to school children, to shoppers and visitors. It will also provide scope for greater active travel options (walking and cycling) in town centres. This will be transformative for town centres, providing an opportunity to meet our housing challenges and our environmental targets.”