Public invited to have say on N4 upgrade project

Three public consultation information sessions on the N4 Mullingar to Roosky upgrade project will take place this week, as the public is invited to have their say over the next six weeks.

The 52km stretch of the N4 is a single carriageway road that passes through or close to villages and towns including Ballinalack, Rathowen, Edgeworthstown, Longford and Newtownforbes.

It is the largest unimproved section of the road and accounts for approximately 25% of the entire N4/M4 corridor.

The N4 Project Team reported that upwards of 17,500 vehicles use the road daily.

It has also identified high collision statistics on this section of the N4 with more than 200 personal injury collisions between 2008 and 2023 – 20 of which resulted in fatalities and 35 in serious injuries, with more than 50% of these collisions occurring in the last six years.

In a statement, Westmeath County Council said: “The project will aim to reduce traffic levels within the settlements along the route and allow for reallocation of road space through the provision of dedicated walking, wheeling and cycling routes.

“The project will also act as an enabler for strengthening tourism through improved connectivity between Irelands Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and the Wild Atlantic Way.

“The sustainability strategy for the project will support sustainable mobility options and the Climate Action Plan targets for carbon dioxide reductions through embedding best practice carbon management throughout the project lifecycle, for example: through provision of electric charging infrastructure.”

Project’s third public consultation

This is the third public consultation on the project and this time it is seeking participation from stakeholders, landowners, members of the public and interested parties on the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor (EPRC).

Gary Gilsenan, Senior Engineer with the National Roads Office, Westmeath County Council said: “The Emerging Preferred Route Corridor is a best overall performing corridor which emerged from the Phase 2 Preliminary Options Assessment and Project Appraisal Matrix.

“It identifies a single end to end 300m wide corridor within which the scheme may be constructed.”

The EPRC will be identified when the website, www.n4mullingartolongford.ie, goes live at 1pm today.

The N4 upgrade scheme originally began in 2007 but was subsequently suspended in 2010 due to funding constraints.

It recommenced in 2019, with the first public consultation taking place in May 2020 and the second public consultation in February 2021.

The scheme was largely paused from December 2021 to December 2023 where limited tasks were undertaken due to limited funding.

“Since December 2023 the Project Team has reviewed and aligned our Project Objectives with Government’s Transport Appraisal Framework which has subsequently brought us to Public Consultation number three,” Mr Gilsenan said.

The series of in-person public consultation events will take place from later today until Thursday:

• Tuesday 2nd July 2024 – 2pm to 8pm, Longford Arms Hotel N39 FK26
• Wednesday 3rd July 2024 – 2pm to 8pm, Mullingar Park Hotel N91 A4EP
• Thursday 4th July 2024 – 2pm to 8pm, Edgeworthstown Library N39 F7Y

Submissions are open until Friday 16 August and can be made via the dedicated website, by email or by post.