THE GOVERNMENT is to spend €14 million this year on developing bus transport as well as new park-and-ride facilities in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The biggest beneficiaries will be Cork and Limerick city which will each receive more than €4 million for their respective green routes.
The allocation of funds will also see Galway city get its first bus corridor.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said yesterday it would help greatly in reducing congestion. “In deciding on allocations for 2010, my priority has been to focus on bus priority measures on routes with the heaviest usage during peak hours.”
In Cork, more than €4 million will be spent on the Ballincollig green route county section, while funding will also be provided for improvements to existing green routes. This will include the elimination of congestion pinch-points for buses on a number of routes as identified by bus operators and the local authorities in Cork.
The bus corridor in Galway will benefit commuters from Knocknacarra, Barna and other areas west of the city.
Of the €4 million being provided for green routes in Limerick city, €2.4 million will be for the southern green route. This section of road was ranked as the highest priority for a green route from the south in the Limerick bus corridor selection report.
Some €1.7 million will be provided for the William Street and Mulgrave Street green routes which are heavily used by bus operators in Limerick city as well as to advance the design of phase II of the Dublin Road green route in the county area of Limerick city.
Elsewhere, €1.27 million will go towards the completion of the first green route in Waterford city on the Dunmore Road and for an additional green route section from Colbert Street on the Mall to Exchange Street on the Quays.