BAM Ireland, Leading Civil Engineering, Building and Property Development Company

The N5 Westport to Turlough Road, contract signing took place at the offices of Mayo County Council, Áras an Chontae last Tuesday.

The development, at an overall cost of €241 million, involves the construction of 20.3km of dual carriageway from Westport to Turlough.  The route stretches from Deerpark East in Westport to the village of Ballyneggin, near Turlough, Castlebar, in addition to a 2.5km single carriageway link to the N59 Westport to Mulranny national secondary road.

The BAM Wills JV, together with representatives from Mayo County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Roughan & O’Donovan moved the project along with the signing of contracts on this most significant project for the West of Ireland.

Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr. Brendan Mulroy acknowledged the significance of the signing “I am delighted as Cathaoirleach to witness the contracts signing on this project, a substantial investment in Mayo’s road infrastructure. The N5 upgrade project will see a major improvement for road users and ensure traffic flows safely and freely. The projects will improve Mayo’s accessibility for business and enhance the visitor experience”

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, welcomed the progress on the project outlining, “I am delighted to welcome this massive investment into County Mayo and the West and it’s great to see a Mayo led consortium win the contract. On a strategic level, the construction of the road will encourage investment and support employment in the County and will greatly enhance connectivity. This project will boost job creation in the region for next three years”

Speaking at the contract signing, Chief Executive at Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes stated, “it is heartening to see the project move to contract signing stage after many years of work by multiple Stakeholders. This is the biggest single infrastructural investment ever undertaken in Mayo and will completely transform the landscape of this County. When completed the road will link Castlebar and Westport into a single cluster which will be on a par with growth centers identified in the current National Planning Framework. This Cluster will encourage investment into the County and bring Economic Development benefits for all of Mayo. Today’s signing is a step towards the Westport Castlebar cluster becoming a reality”

It is envisaged that preparatory site works on the route will begin in the coming weeks with the overall project estimated to take up to 24 months.

An investment of this scale will deliver numerous benefits for the West region, including improved road safety by reducing the frequency and severity of collisions and casualties on the existing stretch of N5.

Reduced journey times for traffic travelling between Mayo and the East will support economic growth in the region and in turn improve balanced regional development. Improvements on inter-urban connectivity by efficiently diverting national traffic away from the town centre of both Castlebar and Westport, while retaining sufficient access for local traffic to the towns will enable Castlebar and Westport to focus on sustainable transport policies to create shorter commutes and to develop safe pleasant pedestrian routes for the benefit of both locals and tourists.