THE LONG-ANTICIPATED Castleisland bypass will open this week two months ahead of schedule and years after a campaign to improve the main route.
The bypass was the only new national road to get funding in 2009 having been shelved months previously. Weeks before the 2007 general election it was given the go-ahead after a campaign warning Fianna Fáil there would be no vote for the party.
The €34 million project finally got under way in May 2009.
A council spokesman said the 5.5km route west of Castleisland would cut 2.2km off journey distances and divert 70 per cent of traffic from the town centre.
READ MORE
It will link the N21 from Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick, the N21 from Tralee with the N23 from Kerry airport and Killarney.