Councils invite public to have say on N4 upgrade route

Westmeath County Council in conjunction with Longford County Council, supported by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), invite all stakeholders, landowners, members of the public and interested parties to participate in a public consultation on the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor (EPRC) for the N4 Mullingar to Longford (Roosky) project.

This 52km section of the N4 is a single carriageway road that passes through or close to several settlements, including Ballinalack, Rathowen, Edgeworthstown, Longford and Newtownforbes. This section accounts for approximately 25% of the entire N4/M4 corridor and is the largest unimproved section of this route.

The road services upwards of 17,500 vehicles per day and features more than 500 junctions and direct accesses. This section of the N4 continues to see high collision statistics, with more than 200 personal injury collisions reported between 2008 and 2023. Of those collisions, 20 resulted in fatalities and 35 resulted in serious injuries. More than 50% of the collisions resulting in fatal or serious injury occurred in the last six years, from 2018 to 2023, demonstrating an upward trend.

The project team are working to improve safety and connectivity between Mullingar, Longford and onwards to Roosky. By resolving the network deficiencies along this section of the N4, the project will enhance the overall accessibility in the region and to the west and north-west.

The project will aim to reduce traffic levels within the settlements along the route and allow for reallocation of road space through the provision of dedicated walking, wheeling and cycling routes. The project will also act as an enabler for strengthening tourism through improved connectivity between Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and the Wild Atlantic Way.

‘The sustainability strategy for the project will support sustainable mobility options and the Climate Action Plan targets for carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions through embedding best practice carbon management throughout the project lifecycle, for example: through provision of electric charging infrastructure.

Route Corridor Options for the project went on display in February 2021 and more than 600 submissions were received as part of that public consultation. The Option Selection Process for the scheme was then progressed, undertaking a detailed appraisal process, which considered submissions and feedback received, in addition to recent changes to government policy. The project is now nearing completion of the Option Selection phase, with an Emerging Preferred Route Corridor (EPRC) identified. A public consultation in relation to the EPRC will commence on July 2 2024.

Interested parties can engage with the public consultation online via a virtual consultation portal or by attending one of the in-person events. Information packs are also being distributed to households, landowners and businesses identified as being within the EPRC.

The series of in-person public consultation events will take place in Mullingar , Edgeworthstown and Longford between Tuesday July 2 2024 and Thursday July 4:

Tuesday July 2, 2-8pm, Longford Arms Hotel, N39 FK26

Wednesday July 3, 2-8pm, Mullingar Park Hotel, N91 A4EP

Thursday July 4, 2-8pm, Edgeworthstown Library, N39 F7Y8

All relevant material will also be made available via the dedicated project website www.n4mullingartolongford.ie, which will include a virtual consultation room and interactive mapping to allow users to examine the proposals in further detail. The virtual consultation room will go live on Tuesday July 2 and will be accessible throughout the consultation period and beyond.

The N4 project team welcome feedback on the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor, which you can submit online through the virtual public consultation platform or by making a submission by email or post. Alternatively, please feel free to contact the project team should you have any queries or wish to arrange a meeting.

If you would like to make a submission, please do so by Friday August 16 through any of the following channels:

• Via the online questionnaire at: www.n4mullingartolongford.ie

• By email to: info@n4mullingartolongford.ie

• By post to: National Roads Office, Westmeath County Council, Culleen Beg, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, N91 T2PE

The N4 Mullingar to Longford (Roosky) Project Team can be contacted directly by email at the above address or by telephone at 086 059 9895 (9am to 4.30pm Monday – Friday).

The N4 Project Team welcome the opportunity to engage with you on the development of this major infrastructure project and look forward to receiving your feedback.