New €32 million Mountcharles- Inver road vital for future growth

The challenges of providing a vital transport corridor to accelerate the development of south-west Donegal are many and the €32 million Mountcharles to Inver Road will be a vital part of that jigsaw.

One can only imagine how a road like this would fit into a variety of targets such as the Killybegs Regeneration Strategy and Action Plan, the Offshore Renewals Energy Development Plan and of course the County Donegal Development Plan 2018-2024 and its identification as a strategic town for marine resources, including tourism, food, energy and ocean energy.

But like any destination, it takes a road to get there and this according to local councillor, Noel Jordan, is why the ongoing development of this road is vital.

The 5km long N56 Mountcharles to Inver Road Scheme is located 10 km west of Donegal Town on the N56 National Secondary Route, the key transport corridor to the south-west of the county. It is funded fully by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, designed by the National Roads Office in Donegal Town while the construction of the works was supervised on behalf of Donegal County Council by Roughan & O’Donovan Consulting Engineers and built by Wills Bros Ltd Civil Engineering Contractors, Mayo.

It starts at the top of the Mountcharles bypass and ends on the eastern side of the Eany Water Bridge at Inver.

Prior to this the existing route was a single carriageway with narrow hard strips and poor vertical and horizontal alignment. There were multiple local road junctions and one regional road junction as well as private accesses along the current N56, all with restricted visibility.

A project like this has been years in the making.

The initial appraisal and design work for this route began in 2001. The Environmental Impact Report was completed in 2008. Planning approval was sought through the Part 8 Process and consent was granted at the end of July 2008. Land acquisition, by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO), was approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2010.

In 2011 the scheme was divided into two smaller employer-designed road schemes: the N56 Mountcharles to Drumbeigh Road Scheme and the N56 Drumbeigh to Inver Road Scheme. Both lay dormant during the economic downturn before becoming funded again in 2014.

The team behind the project say the design philosophy adopted when developing the overall project in the interest of road safety and capacity was to reduce the number of access points to a minimum. The scheme reduces vehicular access points from 66 over 5km to 11 - these 11 access points are road junctions. Reduction of accesses included the closure of all residential/ business direct access to the N56 along this section and the provision of alternative access arrangements through the creation of services road accessing via local road junctions also proved controversial in places.

Through the various statutory processes (Part 8 Planning, Compulsory Acquisition and Land Acquisition), Donegal County Council agreed to maintain, in a few specific instances, access facilities for pedestrians to maintain community connectivity and access to agricultural land. These are commitments through Part 8 Planning and through the Oral Hearing. The form of these accesses has been agreed and incorporated into legal commitments.

The CPO process involved 81 separate landowners agreements. An agreement was reached in 95% of the CPO cases. Much of the outstanding agreements are either road bed cases or have title or conveyance issues on the landowner's side.

It has been widely acknowledged that this project significantly improves a very poor section of the existing N56 and enhances the level of service, safety and accessibility of south-west Donegal including access to Killybegs port, Sliabh Liag cliffs and other scenic tourist attractions along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Cllr Noel Jordan

Now as it is getting ready to be officially opened, this part of the road to Killybegs development is vital for the future, according to Cllr Jordan.

"Windows used to shake when big lorries passed some of the houses in the Turris Hill area of the old road and there had been a number of fatal crashes in this area too so this transformation so to see what is now in its place is amazing."

He says they now needed to see the road between Dunkineely and Kilaghatee upgraded to the same standard.

"The whole overall project was supposed to be from Mountcharles to Killybegs but it went on the slow burner after it got to Inver. I have asked Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) the National Roads Office and Donegal County Council for an examination of the options to continue the scheme on to Killybegs and get consultants in to draw up a new plan and even if it was done in sections it would still progress."

He adds the Inver to Dunkineely section could be done and probably a bypass then needed to get around Dunkineely-Bruckless.

"I think the TII believe there are two options to get to Killybegs and both would involve bypassing Dunkineely and Bruckless. There were a lot of controversies when this was first raised as no town wants to be bypassed but this is a gateway to the main harbour in Killybegs and Sliabh Liag so it's important the road is developed.

“It is going to happen at some stage. I'm just trying to make it happen quicker," he said.

Cllr Jordan says in terms of looking to the future it was obvious Killybegs was going to play a role in the development of offshore wind energy and onsite development would need good roads to ensure infrastructure could be delivered.

"The development of this road is crucial to the economic progress of the south-west of this part of the county.

“The current road from Mountcharles to Inver is only the first part of a jigsaw in this development," he says.