€800k funding boost for Athlone's long-delayed Railway Field Road

UPDATE:

This story has been updated to correct a previous version in which it was stated that the road project involves the relocation of the existing Bus Éireann depot. The Westmeath Independent would like to clarify that the existing bus depot is NOT being relocated.

The long-awaited start of construction on a new link road at the Crescent junction in Athlone has moved a step closer with the announcement of €800,000 in funding for the project.

The grant for the Railway Field Road project was announced as part of the Government's Regional and Local Road funding allocations.

Athlone's Mayor, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke welcomed the news, saying he was delighted that "we now have all we need in place to finally get to work" on the Railway Field Road.

"As Mayor in 2018, I was delighted that we managed to buy the land (for the road) from CIE, after lengthy negotiations. As Mayor now, I am again very pleased that the last piece of the jigsaw is finally in place - the funding," he said.

The link road, which would be between the busy Crescent junction and St Vincent's Care Centre, was the subject of a more-than-decade-long dispute between the council and CIE over the transfer of the required land.

Council official Barry Kehoe told the Westmeath Independent last month that the detailed design of the project had been all but completed.

"We'll be going to tender shortly - I'd say in the next month to two months - for construction," he said.