Fine Gael TD for Roscommon/South Leitrim, Frank Feighan has described the sod-turning on the €60m Ballaghaderreen Bypass project by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar as a red letter day for the local community who have been waiting years for an end to traffic gridlock.

He said: "It's been evident for years, and particularly for the local community, that Ballaghaderreen was crying out for a bypass to tackle the horrendous traffic bottlenecks caused by thousands of vehicles passing through the town centre every day.Thankfully, the bypass project, which has now commenced its construction phase, will finally tackle the congestion which for too long has caused major disruption to the daily and commercial life of the town.

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"This €59m bypass scheme, involving the construction of more than eight miles of single carriageway, forms part of the N5 National Primary Route which extends from the N59 in Westport to the N4 in Longford. The development will undoubtedly have a huge beneficial effect on the town for a number of different reasons.

"Firstly, it will remove national road traffic from the centre of the town, resulting in an improved town environment for local residents, traders and the wider public. Secondly, it will result in improved safety by separating bypassing traffic from local traffic and pedestrians. Thirdly, this bypass should help in reducing accidents and finally, bypassing traffic will now be able to save time on their journeys on this busy national route.

"Working closely with Minister Varadkar, I have seen at first hand his commitment to ensuring that this long-awaited piece of infrastructure would be built. In fact, this is the only major road construction project being launched this year and I am delighted the Ministerring-fenced the funding."

(CD/GK)