First tolled road to open on Monday

Three motorway schemes on the Dublin to Belfast road will open this month, making it possible to travel on continuous motorway from Dublin to south of Dundalk, a distance of 72 km, in less than 50 minutes.

The road openings will begin on Monday with the State's first tolled motorway - a 21.5km section from Gormanston to Monasterboice, by-passing Drogheda to the west.

This route will include a spectacular cable stay bridge crossing the Boyne. It is similar in style to the Luas bridge in Dundrum, south Dublin.

The new motorway, which also by-passes Julianstown, joins the existing Balbriggan by-pass at Gormanston and the Dunleer by-pass at Monasterboice. The first official motorist on the route is to be the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.

National Toll Roads which operates Dublin's East and West Link bridges has already been appointed as a temporary concessionaire to collect tolls on the route.

The main toll plaza is at Balgeen, 7km south of Drogheda. Motorists will also be required to pay a toll on the new Boyne Bridge when they use the slip roads from the motorway onto or off the Donore Road.

Tolls can be paid in either euro cash or coins or with discount cards which can be bought at a 10 per cent discount for 20 journeys from the toll plaza. The toll is €1.50 for a car and 80 cent for a motorcycle. Buses, coaches and light commercial vans will be charged €2.70.

The National Roads Authority said money raised from tolls collected on the Drogheda Bypass will be reinvested in the Dublin-Belfast route, and a permanent concessionaire will be appointed by the end of 2003. This company will be required to build a western by-pass of Dundalk linking the existing motorway to the Border.

On June 27th, the second and third schemes, the Cloghran to Lissenhall and Lissenhall to Balbriggan motorways, between them 16km long, will be opened, providing a complete motorway between Santry in north Dublin and the southern approach to Dundalk.