Waterford bypass fund diverted

Money earmarked for the start of the Waterford city bypass in the constituency of the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, is to be diverted to other projects.

The bypass, which was first approved in 1999, is designed to link the N25 Waterford to Cork road via a new crossing of the River Suir to the proposed M9 Waterford to Dublin motorway. The cost is in the region of €200 million.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) has confirmed work on the project will not get under way this year due to the Viking finds uncovered at Woodstown, on the banks of the Suir.

The NRA is currently awaiting a decision from the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, on how to proceed with conservation of the artifacts discovered at the site.

A key issue will be whether to move the line of the road away from the site at Woodstown or to proceed with "preservation by record" as was used at Carrickmines on the M50 and is proposed for the M3 in Co Meath.

The bypass begins in the vicinity of Kilmeaden to the west of the city, crosses the Suir at Grannagh and ties in with the existing N25 to the east of Slieverue village. The road project includes a cable stay bridge with an overall length of approximately 475 metres, crossing the Suir towards the existing N9 junction to the north west of Waterford city.

The project includes a new connection, known as the western link, which connects the bypass to industrial areas to the south west of the city. The scheme construction includes approximately 23 km of dual carriageway and 14 km of single carriageway.

However, following the discovery of a large Viking site at Woodstown - thought to be one of the most important Viking sites remaining in Europe - the timetable for the road has been suspended.

"It was thought initially that we would get going in 2004 but that won't happen," said Mr Michael Egan of the NRA.

The authority was still hoping to start the scheme next year and the money that would have been spent on the project this year "won't be wasted", he added.

Mr Egan said the money was too much to be absorbed by road maintenance and it was likely to be spent on another road scheme. "There are a number of schemes around the country that can be progressed," he said, adding that money for road schemes was not "locked away" but was allocated as progress was made.