N5/N26/N58 - Castlebar-Bohola / Swinford-Mount Falcon

I'd say Turlough to Bohola is on ice for now - it wouldn't be seen as particularly urgent because the road is decent already. There are separate projects in the early design phase for N26 Ballina to Foxford and N58 Foxford bypass, but that's it AFAIK.

Following the TII allocations last month, here's a quick summary of the 2 parts of this scheme that are currently being funded, the N58 Foxford bypass and N26 Mount Falcon to Foxford. Both were funded for the first time last year.

N58 Foxford bypass: This received 100k in 2022 and 250k this year. This is being progressed as a major project even though it would only be 3km of SC, most likely because the Moy crossing will be expensive. It is not included in the NDP but TII mentioned it specifically in a recent press release as a project that will progress rapidly, as part of the Government’s Town Centres First policy. Local councillors have come out strongly against the bypass, saying they were not consulted, so it will be interesting to see if they remain opposed.

It will also be interesting to see if the new Moy bridge will cause environmental concerns. The new bridge at Cloongullane was almost denied planning as the ABP inspector recommended refusal for environmental reasons, but was fortunately overruled by the Board.

N26 Mount Falcon to Foxford: This received 100k in 2022 and 200k in 2023. This will consist of the online upgrade of the N26 from Mount Falcon to the start of the planned Foxford bypass near O'Haras bakery. It hasn't been said officially but this would almost certainly be type 1 SC due to the traffic levels on this stretch of the N26.

At some point this project may have to be split as the full 8km upgrade may not be doable for less than the 20m euro cut-off for minor works projects. I would see this project as being more urgent than the Foxford bypass, and I think local people will feel the same way, but Eamon Ryan may have other ideas.

That’s unlikely, The existing route is 2.3 km long, and under a 60 and 50 km/h limit for most of that distance (the southern approach is at 80). If the bypass is 3.0 km at 100km/h, or even 80, then even with no delays, you could not legally go through town in a shorter time.

The odd route is because this is a very small section of a much bigger plan to realign N5, N26 and N58 (N5/N26/N58 Castlebar East to Bohola and Swinford to Mount Falcon) The route corridor for that includes a northern bypass of Foxford carrying the N26 round to meet this section of road.

On safety grounds, I think the section south of Foxford should have been included, but then I suppose it would be over the price of a "small works" scheme.

Dungarvan is the Irish example: two terminal roundabouts plus five intermediate ones along a 3 km stretch of road. Despite the name, N25 around Dungarvan was never really a bypass, more of a relief-road for the town.

This scheme is further from Foxford than N25 is from Dungarvan, and national routes are under much more planning protection than they used to be, which should prevent new junctions springing up.

It's good to see the upgrade of the N26 from Ballina to Foxford appears to be moving ahead of the Foxford bypass in the road upgrade pecking order.

The N26 upgrade is proceeding to route options selection stage later in the summer, while the Foxford bypass, one of Eamon Ryan's pet projects, is still stuck at the strategic assessment stage.