M6 stretch to shut for one night for bridge works

A section of the motorway between Athlone and Moate will be closed to traffic this evening to facilitate bridge works needed for the new service area, the National Roads Authority (NRA) has indicated.

The National Roads Authority published a notice recently in the national media to highlight  the closure of the M6 in both directions between Junction 7 Moate and Junction 8 Athlone, sometime over the next month or so. However, a spokesperson has confirmed at the time of going to press (Tuesday) that the road will actually shut to traffic this Thursday, June 18 from 9pm to 6am.

Traffic will be diverted between Junction 7 & Junction 8 (east and westbound) off the M6 onto the old N6 for the duration of the closure.
A press spokesperson for the NRA confirmed that the closure is necessary to complete the removal of formwork on the new overpass bridge and finish up that part of infrastructure. For safety reasons, this cannot be done with traffic on the stretch.

It is envisaged that this will be the only road closure, however, there may be some lane reductions as the tie-works on the on and off ramps concludes over the next few weeks. The NRA expects the substantial part of bridge, overpass and slip roads necessary to access the service area to be complete by mid-July.

In the meantime, there has no movement on what company will operate the service area, and while a preferred tenderer has been identified, no contracts have been signed as of yet.

Last month, Topaz emerged as the frontrunner to run the new motorway service station between Athlone and Moate, with contracts expected to be awarded during the summer.

Once an official announcement has been made, work is expected to start almost immediately on the building of the new service area at Fassagh, Moate, resulting in estimates of close to 100 construction jobs, similar to other motorway service area projects nationwide, from late summer onwards.