Length of Project: 12.7 km
Carriageway Type: Standard Single Carriageway (Diagram)
Current Status of Project: Phase 3
2007 Grant Allocation: €100,000
To view an overall view of the scheme, please click Map

This Project Is Funded By The Irish Government Under The National Development Plan (NDP) 2007 - 2013 And Part Financed By The European Union

Introduction:

In July 1998 the NRA published the NRA National Road Needs Study. The Ballina Orbital Route Project was identified as needing improvement in Phase 2: 2005-2009 and that the road should be a reduced 2-lane cross section. The current Mayo County Development Plan 2003-2009 has stated in its transportation policy its objective to complete the improvements to the national routes and to continue to improve these routes as finance permits. The improvements proposed within the Ballina Orbital Route Project are consistent with this policy. The Ireland National Development Plan 2007-2013 is a Government policy to provide a high quality of service on the national road network and the improvements proposed within the Ballina Orbital Route Project are consistent with this policy. The Government's policy in the National Development Plan is to provide a high quality of service on the national road network. The National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020 recognizes the need to provide good quality road and public transport connections between Dublin, Galway, Mayo and Sligo and identifies 2 strategic radial corridors and 1 strategic linking corridor within County Mayo. These corridors will assist in promoting development within the West Region between the Gateways of Galway, Sligo and Athlone and the linked Hub of Castlebar and Ballina. The proposed Ballina Orbital Route Project is a fundamental element of this strategy. Transport 21 is a government sponsored policy which seeks to provide an integrated solution to Ireland's current and evolving transport needs that will underpin the country's competitiveness, promote balanced regional growth and enhance the quality of life for generations to come. It has identified a number of national routes for development and includes the Ballina Orbital Route Project.

As Mayo's second largest town, Ballina is one of the counties major industrial, commercial, retail and tourist centres which has experienced substantial economic growth over the last number of years. This economic growth has seen the population of the town and its environs increase over the last two decades by 27%, from a figure of 16,012 in 1996 to a figure of 20,292 in 2006. The economic and population growth experienced by the town has resulted in a substantial increase in traffic and as a consequence the existing road network within the town and its environs has come under increased pressure to cater adequately for the existing and future traffic needs of the town. The problem is further exacerbated by the layout of the town's road network. The majority of the roads, whether national primary or national secondary, regional or local, essentially converge in the centre of the town from the surrounding hinterland, in a radial pattern via the two bridge crossings over the River Moy. Consequently, local town traffic, traffic from the towns of Killala, Crossmolina, Foxford, Swinford, Castlebar, Bonniconlon, Enniscrone, Tobercurry and Sligo and surrounding villages or traffic wishing to bypass the town using the national primary, national secondary or regional road network generally need to negotiate the town's road network.
The objective of the Ballina Orbital Route Project is to provide an orbital link around the town connecting all existing and future National Primary and National Secondary Roads, all existing Regional Roads and all existing Local Roads radiating from the town. The consequent benefit will be a reduction in traffic congestion due to traffic having the opportunity of avoiding the town centre. It will also serve to open up lands on the periphery of Ballina for future development.

Progress To Date:

Project Planning (Phase 1 to Phase 3):

In accordance with the requirements of the NRA National Roads Project Management Guidelines, Phase 1-Initial Project Planning the need for the project was agreed between Mayo County Council and the National Roads Authority.
Having established the need for the project, Phase 2-Constraints Study commenced in December 2004 when a Study Area was identified and information was gathered in relation to the various constraints that exist within this area which could affect the design and location of the project. A Constraints Study brochure with questionnaire was made available for public perusal and a closing date for the return of the questionnaire was January 2005. Subsequently, a Constraints Study Report was prepared to assist and enlighten the route selection process.
Having identified the various constraints located within the Study Area, Phase 3-Route Corridor Selection of the process commenced when viable route option corridors were selected. A public presentation of the various route option corridors was held in September 2005 and the public were invited to attend, provided with a Route Option Corridor brochure and questionnaire and invited to assist in selecting the emerging preferred route by completing the accompanying questionnaire. The public were also encouraged to submit written submissions to supplement their views expressed in the questionnaire, if they wished to do so. The various route option corridors were evaluated and a draft Route Selection Report was prepared identifying an emerging Preferred Route Corridor. This Preferred Route Corridor was presented to the Elected Members of Mayo County Council for their information before a public presentation of the Preferred Route Corridor was held in December 2006. Members of the public were invited to attend, provided with a Preferred Route Corridor brochure and encouraged to submit written submissions, if they wished to do so. Having assessed the public reaction to the Preferred Route Corridor the route was brought before the Elected Members of Mayo County Council for adoption in February 2007. The adopted Preferred Route Corridor will be sterilized from a planning perspective. Planning on all of the other route option corridors is/will be released to progress through the planning process. The Route Selection Report is currently awaiting approval by the National Roads Authority.

The Ballina Orbital Route Project will be developed as two distinct entities, part as a national road and part as a regional road. The north-western section, from its intersection with the N59 Crossmolina Road to its intersection with the R314 Killala Road will be developed as part of the regional road network. The remainder of the Ballina Orbital Route Project, from its intersection with the N59 Crossmolina Road to its intersection with the N59 Sligo Road will be developed as part of the national road network.

The national road section of this project requires approval by the National Roads Authority to progress to the next stage, Phase 4-Preliminary Design & Statutory Procedures and this will occur when the project reaches priority for realignment of the road network within the County.

Contact Information:

If you have any queries or comments to make in relation to the above project, if you require further information or if you wish to make an appointment please contact the following;

Paul Hyland,
Project Engineer,
Mayo National Roads Design Office,
Mayo County Council, Glenparke House, The Mall, Castlebar, County Mayo.

Phone: (094) 9047623; Fax: (094) 9034525

Opening hours are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Click to view a map showing the location of the office.

Publications:

Information Brochures:
Information leaflets/brochures and questionnaires are issued periodically to inform the public on the progress of the project and to assist us in assessing the public reaction to the project. Click on any of the following to view the leaflet or brochure:

Constraints Study Brochure
Route Options Brochure
Preferred Route: Brochure1; Brochure 2

Reports:
Reports are prepared at various stages of the project in accordance with the requirements of the NRA National Roads Project Management Guidelines.

The text of the reports may be downloaded here. Please note that the following .pdf files may not include all of the appendices, maps and diagrams contained in the published version in order to reduce the file size for downloading.

Constraints Study Report
Route Selection Report

Other Relevant Information:

If you have an interest in other aspects of road planning or construction click here to view some of the publications contained within this website. Alternatively, you can visit the National Roads Authority site to view their comprehensive library of publications.

Archaeology:

During the planning and preliminary design stage (Phase 1 to Phase 4) of the project, no on-site intrusive archaeological investigations take place. This occurs during the construction stage of the project (Phase 5 to Phase 7) and generally occurs in advance of the main construction contract. However, a combination of desk-top and non-destructive field assessments of known archaeological sites occur during Phase 1 to Phase 4. If you wish to view this information, please refer to the Constraints Study Report, the Route Selection Report and the Environmental Impact Statement, where appropriate. For For a view on general archaeology please click here