Progress in Cork on major road upgrade that is set to bypass three notorious traffic bottlenecks

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork County Council has appointed a design consultancy team for the Midleton-Youghal N25 upgrade scheme that will bypass two East Cork villages and a Midleton roundabout in efforts to reduce congestion on the important national route.

Roughan and O’Donovan Ltd. / AECOM Ireland Ltd. Alliance has been appointed to advance the project that will bypass the villages of Castlemartyr and Killeagh in East Cork as well as Midleton’s Lakeview Roundabout, three notorious bottlenecks on the N25 between Cork, Waterford and Rosslare.

East Cork TD James O’Connor welcomed the news, saying the appointment “makes the project real and tangible and now the public will get their opportunity to be involved once it goes to public consultation during the Options Selection phase.”

The Fianna Fail deputy said the upgrade “will result in a major improvement in road safety in the villages of Killeagh and Castlemartyr for the years to come once the project is completed as well as the quality of life for the local residents.”

The Options Selection phase is expected to take around two years. The Sectoral Investment Plan published by the Department of Transport last November estimated that procurement for the upgrade would occur in 2029 with construction scheduled to commence by 2030. The plan estimated the cost of the Killeagh and Castlemartyr bypasses at between €100 and €250m.

East Cork Councillor Rory Cocking described the design team appointment as “a very welcome step” in the progression of the N25 upgrade. “The need for the bypassing of Castlemartyr and Killeagh has long been obvious and argued for by community groups and public representatives alike, as has the redesign of the Lakeview Roundabout which is no longer fit for purpose,” he told the Irish Independent.

He said the addition of a slip road to the Lakeview Roundabout in 2019 saw some improvement but increased housing development nearby and recent works on the R630 have resulted in congestion reaching levels not seen before.

“Transport Infrastructure Ireland has thankfully acknowledged the traffic issues at Lakeview and in light of this has confirmed that project upgrade works for the roundabout are expected to be progressed separately to the overall N25 Midleton to Youghal route, with a view to providing an early intervention at this section,” Cllr Cocking said.

An upgrade of the Carrigtwohill to Midleton section of the N25 is also listed in the Department of Transport’s sectoral plan but is still only at the preparatory stage of scoping and evaluation. At a meeting of Cork County Council’s Southern Division last year, Director of Services Padraig Barrett described the section as “a substandard, unsafe road” while councillors dubbed it “absolutely lethal” and claimed it has had “fundamentally no improvement works since the day it was opened in 1968.”