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Status
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Construction scheme
(future) |
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Where
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To
construct a new dual-carriageway to
connect the upgraded A5 in Strabane to the
N14 route to Letterkenny in county
Donegal. |
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Total
Length
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0.5 km / 0.3 miles
(Of which 79 metres is in Northern
Ireland)
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Dates
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Public exhibition held
Apr/May 2011
Direction Order
published 19 July 2011
Construction unlikely
to start before 2016 (as of Nov 2011)
Construction due to begin 2012/13 (as of 2011)
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Cost
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£3.2m for NI
portion as of 2007
Likely to be funded by Republic of
Ireland |
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Photos
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None as yet - please
contact me if you have any to contribute.
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See
Also
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Map
and design of proposed road and bridge
- Donegal County Council
General
area map - Google Maps
Official
web site on scheme - Donegal County
Council
Web site on wider N14/N15 scheme -
Donegal County Council
Map
showing route within NI - see page
11 of this PDF file
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Although this scheme is being implemented by
Donegal County Council, it is included on the site
as it has a cross-border element that will be
constructed within Northern Ireland. In its
original form around 2007, the plan was to upgrade
the N14 road which connects Letterkenny in county
Donegal to Northern Ireland and hence on to Dublin
via Strabane. The whole scheme would have been
built to 2+2 dual-carriageway standard and be 18km
long. At the eastern end it was to include a new
bridge to connect Lifford across the border to
Strabane and hence join the A5.
In October 2010 the dual-carriageway plan was
suspended. However the short Strabane to Lifford
link still needs to go ahead due to the proposed
upgrade of the A5. A bridge over the River Finn
will be required to carry the new road. Donegal
County Council call this a "significant structure
between 100 and 300 metres in length". Click
here for a map of the current proposals.
Progress
9 Nov 2011:
The Irish government's decision not to provide
£400m for the A5 upgrade until
at least 2016 means that this scheme, too, is now
on hold. Since it would connect to the upgraded
A5, the scheme would serve no purpose without it.
Therefore, this scheme is now on the long finger.
8 Oct 2011:
It now seems certain that Roads Service and the
NRA (in the Republic of Ireland) do indeed plan to
press ahead with this scheme at the same time as
the main A5 scheme. This was evidenced by the
publication of the Direction
Order in July 2011. A Direction Order (used
in Northern Ireland only) is the legal document
that is required to give Roads Service permission
to build a new trunk road. It is unclear whether
this short link road was included in the A5 Public
Inquiry, but since the section inside Northern
Ireland is only 79 metres long it would seem
wasteful to hold an entirely separate public
inquiry for it!
5 June 2011: Further to my
previous update, Donegal County Council have now
put a PDF
of their proposals online. This shows that
the link road will consist of a fairly substantial
eight span bridge, three of which appear to be
arch spans with five beam spans. Most of the
bridge traverses the flood plain, as the River
Finn itself is not massive. The PDF gives the
dates of the environmental impact statement and
compulsory purchase order (similar to a Northern
Ireland vesting order) as "summer 2011" with
construction to take place "2012 onwards". This
way this latter date is phrased seems to imply
that it will be built concurrently with the
construction of the A5 dual-carriageway in
Northern Ireland which is also to be built from
"2012 onwards". With thanks to Cormac Ó
Murchú.
14 May 2011: Donegal County
Council have now held a public
exhibition of their preferred route (held
mid April until 8 May 2011). Unfortunately I can't
seem to locate any copies of the proposals online.
The official
web site for the scheme on the Donegal CoCo
web site also says that "the Environmental
Impact Statement/ Environmental Statement and
Compulsory Purchase Order are expected to be
ready for publication by end May 2011." No
details of a possible construction date are
mentioned.
31 Oct 2010: The financial
chaos in the Republic of Ireland has resulted in
the plan to upgrade
the N14 from Strabane to Letterkenny being
"suspended" as of two weeks ago. However, Donegal
County Council have now split the Strabane-Lifford
link road from this larger scheme and are taking
it forward independently
because this section is required to link into the
proposed A5 dual-carriageway from Derry to
Aughnacloy which is being part funded by the
Republic of Ireland. As of two weeks ago the
latest information was that "Roughan &
O’Donovan Consulting Engineers have now been
appointed to complete the Design and the
Environmental Impact Assessment/Environmental
Assessment Report Statutory Processess for the
project. It is likely that some amendments will
be necessary to the design for the N14
Letterkenny to Lifford/Stabane Scheme and the
N15 Lifford to Stranorlar scheme to incorporate
the layout of the N14/N15 to A5 Link." With
thanks to Cormac O Murchú for letting me
know about these changes.
23 Mar 2008: Construction
of the scheme had been due to get underway in mid
2008. However, according to the Roads Service
report to Strabane
Borough Council in Autumn 2007, the scheme
is now being reviewed by the authorities both
North and South. This is because the scheme is due
to tie in to the A5 Strabane Bypass. However, as
of summer 2007 a plan is being progressed to
upgrade the A5 to dual-carriageway and this will
affect the design of the Strabane-Lifford link.
Therefore construction is likely to be delayed.
Donegal Council Council's web site is now giving a
start date of "2013", considerably later than
previously believed.
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