Nearly €7 million spent to date on unbuilt Athlone road
Westmeath County Council has spent close to €7 million to date on a 380-metre road that has not yet been built in Athlone.
Figures provided through a Freedom of Information request outlined how the bill for the controversial project known as the Railway Field Road continued to increase in recent years.
The new link road, which would connect the Crescent junction with St Vincent’s Care Centre/Coosan Point Road, was first mooted in 1998.
This year it was the subject of a fresh planning application to An Coimisiún Pleanála after a previous planning approval had expired.
The project's troubled history included a land dispute, which lasted for several years, between the council and CIE.
Figures provided by the council in April 2019 showed that, up to that point, the total spending on the project had come to €6,570,650. This included some €3.26 million in capital contracts expenditure, as well as €2.02 million in land costs, and just over €500,000 worth of consultancy and professional fees.
The Westmeath Independent submitted a further Freedom of Information request in recent months seeking an update on the spending incurred by the council, as a result of the proposed road, between April 2019 and July of this year.
The response indicated that a further €187,103 had been spent by the local authority on the project in the last six years, with this broken down as €104,846 in design costs and €82,257 in legal fees.
It means public funds totalling €6,757,753 have so far been spent by the council on the road development, with a further substantial seven-figure sum set to be required for its construction if planning approval is granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
The planning documents for the road project went on public display in Westmeath County Council’s offices, and on its website, on July 11. The window for submissions or observations on the planning bid closed at 5.30pm today (Friday, August 29).
According to the planning documents, the construction of the road would take "approximately 12 months" to complete.
The development is due to result in the western stretch of the Southern Station Road - from the Coosan Point Road junction to the train station - being reclassified for bus use only.
Bus parking facilities at the Bus Eireann depot, opposite the bus and rail station, are also scheduled to be extended as part of the project.
The project is formally known as ‘Athlone Link Road - Phase 2’, with first phase consisting of the new traffic signal junctions that were put in place at St Francis Terrace and the Crescent junction in 2007.
At an Athlone Moate Municipal District meeting in June, Westmeath County Council’s director of services, Jackie Finney, said she had been involved in discussions with colleagues about whether or not the new road was still necessary.
"I have had that conversation, because we are years (on from the original plans) and we’re talking about active travel and cycle routes... but I’m advised by all of the engineers, and people with a lot more technical knowledge than me, that it is necessary, that it is a priority, and it will be progressed," Ms Finney said.
"It will not only improve the traffic circulation but will also improve the railway station and the operation of that, and cycling and pedestrian access around that area."
An Coimisiún Pleanála’s decision on the planning application for the road is not expected until January 12, 2026.