The importance of the planned new highway from Dublin to the west of Ireland, a redrawing of the N6, has not been lost on the towns and villages along the way.

Already the chambers of commerce in Mullingar, Co Westmeath and Tullamore, Co Offaly are engaged in intensive political lobbying to have a route selected which would pass in close proximity to their town.

Further west, the people of Loughrea are facing the prospect of seeing its passing traffic move further away as the route edges closer to Athenry, a more direct route to Galway.

In the balance for all is a major opportunity for growth - or the possibility of being sidelined as an inaccessible place for industry to locate.

Coming west from Kilcock, where the current motorway ends, the first town which would benefit by the Offaly route, is Edenderry. According to Donal Byrne of estate agents Eugene Byrne, other towns a similar distance from Dublin have expanded ahead of Edenderry because of the town's poor access to the N6.

"There are 60 odd bends on the road from Edenderry to Enfield, but option number five for the new road envisages a new junction at Johnstownbridge. We are now lobbying Kildare and Offaly county councils to upgrade the roads to that junction. It would have huge benefits for Edenderry in terms of industry, housing and commercial development."

There is already a demand for housing, says Mr Byrne, with a number of developments built and "about 1,000 houses in the pipeline, some of them subject to planning. The housing will happen, but to get the industry we need the road access".

Further west, in Tullamore, the campaign to have the N6 serve the town is in full swing. According to agent John Wrafter, the road would be a great boost to commercial life. He points to the proposed Durrow Abbey development - a major hotel, leisure, housing and commercial scheme - that it would be only five minutes from the N6.

Like many county towns, Tullamore is busy but has a large problem with traffic. A proposed ring road is planned which, taken in conjunction with access to the N6, would be a shot in the arm for the town and the county, he believes.

Athlone, with its bypass, institute of technology, rail link to Dublin and "clean" environment on the Shannon is virtually certain to expand significantly over the next seven years. New housing and new industries point to a thriving commercial future, particularly in the regenerated waterside area.

Further west again, the town of Loughrea could be the most significant loser if the road deserts the town. While the National Roads Authority insists that nothing is finalised as yet, the geographical diversion of the N6 from Ballinasloe through Loughrea to Galway makes little sense on the map. The main road originally ran through Athenry and that would appear to make more sense for the route of the motorway.

Loughrea estate agent John Holohan says the bypass of Loughrea on the existing N6 is imminent. This will be three miles to the north of the town and while he accepts that access would be impaired if the new road is moved towards Athenry, he says that Loughrea has enough indigenous traffic to support business. "It doesn't affect us here, really, we get our business from the wide south-east Galway area and access the N7 through Birr going to Dublin."

But agent Martin Keary says "The people here wouldn't like it at all. Certainly if the road was to move it would draw business away from the town."

Athenry stands to be the big winner in all of the road plans. Already only a short drive from Galway on poor roads, a major dual carriageway could open up the area for development of industrial parks to ease the heavily congested city of Galway. It is also situated on the railway line and is adjacent to Galway regional airport.

According to local agent John Kelly, the town is already on a roll, with the latest draft of the development plan due to be adopted by the county council. The plan provides for housing and industrial development as well as conservation of the town's Heritage Town status. The proximity of the N6 here could be just the icing on the cake.