Mayo road project may take 'up to eight years'

A councillor has claimed that improvement works on the N59 from Newport to Mulranny could take up to eight years to complete.

Motorists along the road are currently subject to traffic restrictions to incorporate the safety enhancement works as part of the N59 Derradda to Newport Road project, a €31.5 million scheme awarded to Fox Building & Engineering earlier this year and funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

Mayo County Council is advising the public that works on the first of three phases of the project, which commenced in March 2025, will last approximately two and a half years and that temporary traffic lights with short delays are expected, while a 50km per hour speed limit in place.

The project comprises both on-line road widening and off-line road construction and will include enhancement to sections of the Great Western Greenway including a 1km off-road stretch as well as a greenway bridge structure over the N59 carriageway realignment at Kiltarnaght.

A delegation of engineers from the council attended last week's meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District and informed councillors that the contract duration for the project is approximately 32 months with works currently at a progress rate of 5%. It was explained that it takes time to mobilise the area, set up the roadworks and the service diversions for providers such as ESB, in addition to preparing documents and working on different sections at a time, such as between Newfield and Derrada and Newfield and Mulranny.

A number of issues were raised by councillors, with Cllr John O’Malley noting that local people were adamant that an embankment of trees just outside Newport town that acts as a buffer and sound barrier should not be removed. He also mentioned a local farmer who would be impacted by plans to move an access road 20ft further back that he uses for cattle to cross the main road.

Cllr Paul McNamara queried whether it would be possible to shorten the three-phase approach to the project to two by combining the last two five-kilometre phases  into one.

“It should be taken into consideration the destruction that is going to be caused over the next four to five years to people on that road over a daily basis. Over in Frenchpark the bypass is all happening in one go so why not this also, because we are looking at eight years with disruptions here and that is a long time.” 

The engineering staff said the timeline was a matter for TII. They also confirmed that Burrishoole Bridge itself will not be changed but it will be widened at its extremities to improve visibility.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.