The €140 million N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin Roads Project in County Sligo has officially reached completion.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD visited the site of the project to open the road to traffic on Monday, 18 October.

This project, which began construction in 2019, involved the development of 15km of new National Primary Road comprising 1km single carriageway from the Curlews Bypass to a new roundabout at Castlebaldwin, followed by just under 14km of dual carriageway to Collooney. It also include 4km of greenway and represents one of the first key National Roads Projects to be delivered under Project Ireland 2040's Regional Connectivity objective.

Speaking as he opened the new route, An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, TD said: "This project is about enhancing people's quality of life. It will significantly improve road safety for local communities and for everyone travelling between Sligo and Dublin. The new road will also be a catalyst for sustainable regional growth and development, encouraging further investment and employment opportunities in Sligo and the North West. It will enhance the quality of life of this community, improving accessibility and making this an even more attractive destination for investment and a place to work and live."

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Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, TD commented: "The opening of the N4 today is not only an important milestone for Sligo, the communities and businesses that it serves; so too is it critical from a road safety perspective. Tragically, in the past three decades we have lost 30 lives on the old N4; I am confident that the 15km of new National Primary Road will make it a safer place for commutes to work and school, or for travel to visit friends and family in the decades ahead. While it is impossible to put a price on any one life saved on our roads, Government's investment of €140 million on this vital piece of infrastructure will result in 27 fewer fatalities and 87 fewer serious injuries by 2051, based on current predictions."

The project was delivered by Sligo County Council's TII National Roads Project Office, fully supported by Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The Employers Representative was Barry Transportation, and the contractor was Roadbridge, with Fehily Timoney, Byrne Looby, and Clandillon as Contractor's Designers.

Cormac O'Rourke, Chairman of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) added: "A project like today's N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin is a prime example of the upgrades needed to the national roads network to deliver on TII's remit to enhance safety and improve efficiency under the Government's Project Ireland 2040 plan. TII continues to deliver, along with our Local Authority partners, the needed road safety improvements throughout the historic national roads network, along with maintaining the existing network. This national and local collaboration formally establishes the commitment to deliver on all the National Road elements contained within Project Ireland 2040."

Road users traveling on the main Dublin to Sligo road now automatically enter the new dual carriageway at Castlebaldwin. The new road then continues for 13.8km, to Collooney, from where it joins the existing dual carriageway at the N4/N17 roundabout, 12km from Sligo. The project includes just under 1km of National Road single carriageway. There are 12 bridges in the new road scheme, including four over bridges, six under bridges, and two river bridges.