MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey has said allocated funding for road-building projects has been ringfenced, despite the widespread savings cuts announced by the Government last week.
At the opening yesterday of the new €280 million N6 Kilbeggan- Athlone dual carriageway in Co Westmeath, the Minister said the Government had given a commitment to "finish all the motorways by 2010. That commitment stands and will stand.
"Obviously the economic circumstances have to be taken into account on an annual basis, but we have a programme of works that the National Roads Authority [NRA] has initiated. They have the plans in place and the finances have been made available."
The NRA claims that motorists travelling between Dublin and Galway will save 45 minutes on the drive thanks to the opening of the new scheme.
Mr Dempsey said the completion of the 29km stretch of road on the east-west axis was delivered on budget and on time. It is anticipated that up to 13,000 vehicles a day will use the new route, which has been under construction since May 2006.
The scheme will bypass Kilbeggan, Horseleap and traffic blackspot Moate. It was funded by the Government under the National Development Plan and part-financed by the European Union.
NRA chairman Peter Malone said the additional infrastructure meant drivers could "travel all the way from Dublin to west of Athlone on 114km of continuous motorway or dual carriageway".
The entire major inter-urban route from Galway to Dublin will be finished by 2010, but will be funded by a toll on the N6 route between Galway and Ballinasloe close to Cappataggle village.
Mr Dempsey defended the toll system, saying people had an alternative to using tolls and that the money generated was vital for future road projects.
"There is no question of reviewing any toll schemes or reviewing the policy in relation to tolls."
Daisy Murphy, who lives outside Moate on the Dublin-Galway road, said she was delighted with the bypass because each weekend gridlocked traffic stretched for miles outside her home.
Supt Aidan Glacken of Athlone said the bypass would "reduce frustration" experienced by huge volumes of drivers in the Moate area on Friday and Sunday evenings.
County council cathaoirleach Joe Whelan said the Kilbeggan- Athlone carriageway was another "step in bringing the midlands and the west closer to the capital".