Enniskillen is a busy town because it is the crossing point of a number of main routes, most notably the A4 Belfast to Sligo route but also the A32 route north to Irvinestown. As the town lacks any bypasses (other than the Enniskillen Throughpass running parallel to the town centre) strategic traffic has to mingle with local traffic in the town. This scheme will allow traffic to move between the A4 east of the town and the A32 to the north without having to go close to the town centre.

It consists of a 2.0km link road running from the existing Cherrymount roundabout on the A32 to the B80 Tempo Road. Traffic will then use the existing B80 to reach the A4 road. (This part of the B80 is likely to be re-numbered as A32.) The northern 0.5km already exists, but will be upgraded. The map below (not to scale) illustrates the proposals and shows the locations of the four new roundabouts that form part of the plan as well as the existing roundabout on the A32. This means that the completed road will end up with five roundabouts in the space of just 2km, enough to frustrate any motorist! A more detailed map can be seen in this Roads Service document published in July 2010.

(Map based on Google Earth imagery).

The road will be build to 2 lane single carriageway standard (one lane each way) and will very likely include at least one footway and cycleway. Roads Service estimated in this press release that the new road will attract around 9,000 vehicles per day.

The Cherrymount Link scheme was first included in the 2003 Regional Strategic Transport Network Plan. However, the scheme as currently proposed (as of August 2010) follows a slightly different route than originally proposed. This new route, which runs a few hundred metres further east in the central stretch, "made use of better ground conditions and took advantage of anticipated reduced land purchase costs".

Progress

17 Dec 2011: I've been contacted by someone who is working on this scheme, and he has clarified a couple of matters. Firstly, the scheme involves 1.5km of new road, (not 1.1km as I had been stating) along with an upgrade to 0.5km of the existing link road at the north end of the scheme. Secondly, the long duration of the scheme (see previous update) is due to "2 sections of ground improvements... these sections involve poor ground conditions with peat and alluvium up to 10m in depth. There are several other contractor design elements including retaining walls, strengthened earthworks and foot bridge design (2 no.)". The scheme has now been underway for three months, and to date work appears to have concentrated on preparing the boggy ground. I have not named the contributor as they are presumably working on the scheme, but thank you!

21 Sep 2011: Much rejoicing can be heard in Enniskillen this week because work on this scheme is finally, finally, starting on Monday 26th September. The Minister issued a press release last week revealing that the successful contractor is a joint venture between PT McWilliams and McLaughlin & Harvey. The same press release confirmed that the total cost of the scheme is £12.85m, of which the cost of the actual construction work is £5.46m. Completion is due "by Spring 2013", ie about a year and a half from now, which is a surprisingly long time to build 0.7 miles of single carriageway road. But perhaps we should not quibble, given how long this scheme has been in the pipeline.

4 Jul 2011: In a Written Answer in the Assembly two weeks ago, the Minister said that the deadline for contractors to submit tenders to construct Cherrymount Link was 16th June and that the tender is due to be awarded in September "to facilitate the completion of works before the end of the 2012/13 financial year". In the current financial climate the contractor will be keen to begin work as soon as possible, so we're looking at a probable start date for the work of this coming Autumn. According to the dates given, the latest completion date would be April 2013, which suggests a maximum construction period of 19 months, possibly less.

14 Jan 2011: Supporters of this scheme should consider themselves lucky today. In the draft DRD budget released yesterday, Cherrymount Link is the only scheme other than the major A5 and A8 schemes to have survived a big cost-cutting exercise. All other strategic schemes in the province have been delayed until at least 2015, with Cherrymount Link being the only one that is still expected to continue as planned. Construction is currently scheduled to begin this year.

11 Sep 2010: Roads Service have released the initial tender for this scheme. This initial tender is to allow interested engineering firms to bid to be included in the more complicated tender which should be released in a few month's time. This two-stage process ensures that only those firms who have a chance of winning the tender can actually tender for it. Neverthless, this means that the ball is rolling and construction appears to be creeping closer.

10 Aug 2010: Roads Service have released an updated leaflet and map of the scheme. This shows that a fourth new roundabout has been added to the central portion of the scheme to serve future developments. Taken together with the existing roundabout on the A32 Irvinestown Road, it seems that the new road will require motorists to negotiate five roundabouts in the space of just 1.1km, which is surely enough to frustrate any motorist!!

7 June 2010: Last December the Minister was only able to say that the Cherrymount Link "could" start in 2011. This now seems more certain, because in this press release from three days ago the Minister said "It is... anticipated that the ground consolidation measures taking effect at Cherrymount Link, Enniskillen, will be followed by the main construction works next year". This will be encouraging for the people of Enniskillen.

21 Apr 2010: The cost estimate for the scheme has risen again. According to updated information on the Roads Service web site, the scheme is now estimated to cost £12-16m, an increase on the £11m being quoted until recently. The main construction contract is still scheduled to be put out to tender in December 2010, so we could see construction begin later in 2011 or early 2012.

16 Feb 2010: According to an article in the Fermanagh Herald, contractors have begun work preparing the ground along the route of the new road by infilling the soft, waterlogged land. This job will take about 12 months, and so it has begun now so that it is completed by the time construction on the actual road begins, currently estimated to be sometime in 2011. For clarity, this does NOT mark the commencement of construction of the new road itself, since this is an entirely separate contract. Construction of the road is currently waiting for the approval of funding, the timing of which is uncertain in the current financial climate. However, the work that has begun does strongly reassure the people of Enniskillen that Roads Service are committed to proceeding with the scheme. The article also notes that the scheme will include two footbridges - one near Coa Road, and another to give access to the playing fields of St Michael's College.

4 Dec 2009: In one of these Written Answers, the Minister of Regional Development has confirmed what we suspected in October, namely that construction has got pushed back into 2011. The Minister said "My Department’s Roads Service remains committed to the completion of this worthwhile project. The land required for the construction of the Cherrymount Link Road has been acquired, and construction work could start in 2011, subject to the level of funding available at that time." Even this statement is non-committal, and suggests that funding pressures are starting to show. Understandably, the local media is not impressed. Roads Service have also said that the land for the scheme has now been fully acquired.

18 Oct 2009: This scheme has appeared on the "future contracts" section of the Roads Service web site, and the news is not good in terms of timescale. Although Roads Service said in June that the scheme would hopefully get underway "during 2010" according to the tender information the tender is not even due to be released until December 2010, meaning that work will not begin until 2011 at the earliest. Interestingly, the tender says that there will be 500 metres of "single lane dualling" (ie one lane each way with a central barrier) and two footbridges. The contract duration has now been given as "30 months", ie 2.5 years. If this means the time it will take to construct the road, then it seems an awfully long time for such a small scheme. By this timetable the earliest we can expect completion of the road is mid 2013.

8 June 2009: At a meeting with Fermanagh District Council two weeks ago, Roads Service said that the Environmental Statement, Notice to Proceed with a Direction Order, and Vesting Order were published in March. They also said that the intention is to commence on the ground during 2010.

9 Mar 2009: The last time we were given an estimate of the cost of this scheme was in December 2006, when the cost was given as £8m. The DRD Minister has now updated this, and the new figure is £11m. This is likely due to the development of the design which tends to add new elements.

24 Feb 2009: Roads Service published their notice of intention to proceed with the scheme two weeks ago. The document gives a summary of the scheme, the environmental impact, and an outline of the process that was taken to arrive at the final proposal. The document states that the nothernmost 500 metres will be a single-lane dual-carriageway (ie one lane each way separated by a barrier) which is quite an unusual, but also very safe, design that eliminates accidents associated with right turns. Although information in April 2008 was that work would commence in "2008/09", this has now been pushed back a bit. According to the Roads Service report to Fermanagh District Council in November 2008, the land will be purchased by April 2009 and "It is hoped that an advanced earthworks contract can then commence on site during 2009/10." The final cost is also unclear, since the last published estimate of £8m was in 2006.

27 Jun 2008: As suspected, this Legal Order has been passed which will make the Cherrymount Link part of the A32. The part of the B80 Tempo Road that runs from the planned Cherrymount Link to the A4 Dublin Road will also be part of the A32. What will happen to the existing stretch of the A32 Irvinestown Road that will be bypassed by the Cherrymount Link is unclear, but it will likely be downgraded to a B-road once the new road is opened.

28 Apr 2008: According to the Investment Delivery Strategy for Roads of April 2008, the scheme is set to commence in "2008/09" with completion due in "2009/10".

4 Nov 2007: A public display of the selected route will take place in Erne Integrated College on 5th November. The timescale for commencement of construction is now slightly more specific with work due to begin in either the 2008/09 or 2009/10 financial years depending on how quickly the statutory processes are concluded.

14 Feb 2007: At a meeting between Fermanagh Council and the Roads Service on 6 December 2006, it was revealed that construction has been pushed well back from the April 2007-April 2008 slot claimed by Roads Service in 2006. They are now anticipating construction in the period 2010-2011. Also, they have revised the cost up from £3.8m to £8m which has been attributed to extending the scheme, undertaking widening work and increases in land value. The council has expressed its disapproval at the timescale of the whole project from planning to completion, currently said to be 2007-2011.

15 Nov 2006: According to this Parliamentary written answer, dating from March 2006, work is anticipated to begin in the 2007/08 financial year, which means between April 2007 and April 2008.