The Government's ten-year roads investment plan will help promote regional development, the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, said today.
Speaking in Co Mayo where he opened the first stage of the €16 million Ballina-to-Bohola road, Mr Cullen said transport infrastructure was crucial in continuing to protect and grow jobs in rural areas.
"The 10-year package unveiled in the Budget means Government can plan with certainty for road and public transport investment for the years ahead.
"Well-connected and strategically planned infrastructure is crucial in addressing regional imbalance. This will give businesses and jobs in the BMW (Border, Midlands and West) region a better chance," Mr Cullen said.
Some €150 million per month was being investment in roads - relieving bottlenecks, improving people's quality of life and yielding "a significant road safety dividend," he said.
"Getting to work, school or play becomes less of a guessing game. This represents good investment of our taxes," he said.
The new N26 is part of the strategic national roads policy to improve the primary and secondary road networks in line with the National Spatial Strategy objective of upgrading cross regional link roads.
The National Roads Authority said the 4.7-kilometre stretch of single-carriageway was constructed on schedule and on budget. It said the route would replace the existing N26 between Ballina and Carrowntreila and would cater for the 9,000 vehicles a day.
The Ballina-Carrowntreila road is part of a larger scheme to join up with the N5 linking Dublin and Westport, bypassing Foxford and Swinford.
PA