A key road upgrade in the County Mayo town of Claremorris has progressed following the award of a contract.

BAM Ireland agreed a deal to deliver the construction work on the N17/R320 Junction Upgrade at Lisduff, a route identified as a high collision location by Transport Infrastructure Ireland following many serious collisions.

Led by Mayo County Council with funding from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, this project will see an upgrade of the existing at-grade junction of the N17 National Road with the R320 Regional Road to a compact grade separated junction. The L5565-0 Meelick More Road will be realigned to connect to the compact grade separated junction. The proposed junction layout will ban all right turning traffic movements at the junction with the N17 and will provide left in/ left out traffic turning movements only with the N17. The scheme includes a combined footway/cycleway to provide a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians between the L5565-0 Meelick More Road and the R320 Regional Road.

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BAM Ireland will begin work in January 2022, working under a 14-month construction period until end of February 2023.

Commenting on the contract, BAM Ireland CEO Theo Cullinane said: "We at BAM Ireland are delighted to have been awarded this project by Mayo County Council and continue delivering critical infrastructure projects for Mayo County Council and TII. Works are nearing completion on the N26 Cloongullane Realignment and the N5 Westport to Turlough JV project with Wills Bros is progressing well. At BAM we are proud to play a key role in rural connectivity and road safety and we work tirelessly to achieve our goal in delivering a sustainable tomorrow."

The benefits of the scheme will be to improve safety and address the High Collision Location and reduce the number of collisions arising from turning movements at the junction. In addition, the provision of a combined footway/cycleway through the proposed junction will improve the environment and safety for non-motorised users travelling across the N17 between the R320 and L-5565-0 Meelick More Road.

Tom Gilligan, Director of Services at Mayo County Council, added: "Mayo County Council very much welcomes this junction upgrade at Lisduff, Claremorris, which will significantly improve road safety in the area. Improving connectivity and road safety is a key priority for this Council and all credit to the management and staff in Mayo County Council, especially our roads team, the councillors, the landowners and TII who have ensured great progress to get the contract awarded. I want to wish the contractor, BAM Civil Ltd, all the best and we look forward to the successful completion of the scheme which will be a game changer for road safety in this County."