N61 Tulsk upgrades (10km Type 1 SC - planning granted for first 4km)

DumbBrunette

I thought this deserved a thread of its own as the Tulsk to Clashaganny scheme (4km T1SC) has just received planning permission.

https://www.shannonside.ie/amp/news/part-eight-planning-for-n61-tulsk-to-clashaganny-road-approved-219847

This project will upgrade a brutal 4km stretch of the N61 from Tulsk crossroads south towards Roscommon town. Most of it will be offline, close to the existing road corridor. Details and maps are here:

https://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/about_us/part-8-local-authority-own-developments/roads-transportation/part-8-n61-tulsk-to-clashaganny-road-project/

It's unusual for a national road upgrade of this scale to get Part 8 planning rather than going to Bord Pleanala. Perhaps more knowledgeable posters would know if there's any precedent for this.

As with previous upgrades to the N60 and N61, Roscommon Co Co are going for a type 1 cross section even though the traffic volumes of 5,000 AADT don't quite justify it.

The funding allocation for 2023 is just 100k so it won't be tendered this year, but hopefully next year.

The second scheme is the Tulsk to Gortnacrannagh project, which will link Tulsk to the new N5/N61 junction about 6km north. This is currently at route selection stage and 500k has been allocated this year so it appears to be all systems go. There's a great summary of the project here:

https://www.rod.ie/projects/n61-tulsk-gortnacrannagh-road-project

6km is quite long for one minor works project, given the poor ground conditions and the increase in construction costs, so hopefully they can make it work. The preferred route is expected to be announced this year.

I would expect this to be T1SC also, given that the project is being described as a national primary road in the article above and in a related tender- https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/208069/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/PublicTenders

DumbBrunette

Talking to myself a bit but one of the N61 projects is under judicial review:

https://roscommonpeople.ie/n61-tulsk-project-subject-to-judicial-review/

yabadabado

Any update on the review?

DumbBrunette

I think the council is restarting the project from scratch rather than going ahead with the judicial review. There must have been a serious issue raised about the planning process so they knew they would lose.

DumbBrunette

https://www.roscommonherald.ie/news/update-sought-on-planned-upgrade-works-for-county-roscommon-road_arid-52861.html

Latest on this, they're basically starting from scratch again after the judicial review.