On the right road

Amid some excitement from motorists and the general public and apprehension from bypassed towns the new €280 million N6 Kilbeggan to Athlone dual carriageway opens to traffic today (Wednesday). The route is expected to cut travel times between Athlone and Dublin by at least a half an hour at peak times, by eliminating the notorious traffic jams in Moate. 10,000 vehicles are expected to be taken from the streets of Kilbeggan, Horseleap, Moate and Athlone per day thanks to the new route. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey will be on hand to cut the ribbon on the massive infastructural project for the Midlands region, which stretches some 29 kilometres. Beginning at the N52 south of Kilbeggan, the project runs south of the existing N6 before crossing to the north of the N6 at Farnagh and connecting to the Athlone Relief Road. Ahead of schedule and on budget, the new road development bypasses some major bottlenecks along the route, namely areas like Moate, Horseleap and Kilbeggan. While welcoming the long awaited development there is some worry in those areas that business new road project will upgraded to full motorway status, a NRA spokesperson also confirmed to the Westmeath Independent this week. The Department is currently going through the statutory procedures for this process and as each section of the new N6 dual carriageway is completed, it will be upgraded to motorway status. An NRA spokesman confirmed that the designation is expected to take effect for the Kilbeggan to Athlone stretch in two weeks time. Until then, a 100kmph speed limit will apply. The Athlone to Kilbeggan section links into phase one of the project from Kinnegad to Kilbeggan, providing almost 57 kilometres of top class roads heading west. The next stages of the east/west axis from Athlone to Ballinasloe and the stretch from Ballinasloe to Galway are both currently under construction with completion dates of 2009 and and 2010 respectively.