N5 - Westport to Turlough [open to traffic]

I went for a drive again today and a lot of progress has been made on the road in the last 4 weeks, especially around Westport. Some highlights:

The Sheeaun road overbridge and approaches have been tarmaced and it looks like the bridge could open in a few weeks if not sooner.

The Islandeady overbridge is open for pedestrians and surfacing is nearly done on the link to the old N5. I could see this bridge opening fully by the end of June.

At Drumneen overbridge (behind the Halfway House) the bridge deck is now in place and there was a big crew with a crane working on the bridge today.

At Attireesh in Westport where piles are being driven to support the road, much of the concrete for the road foundation has been poured. Kerbing and surfacing work has started on the N5/N59 roundabout going towards Westport industrial park.

The final surface has been laid on most of the project now, with gaps at Sheeaun and Drumneen where the bridges aren't finished yet, and around the N60 crossing. The Westport relief road and N59 section are well behind though, with earthworks still being completed.

Some more pics:

On the Islandeady overbridge, which is open for pedestrians but the entrance in the distance from the 'old' N5 is still closed to cars.

The Sheeaun overbridge from the north, this looks like it could open in weeks.

Bit of a moany article about the new N5, but you'd have to sympathise with the residents here. The rock breaking has been going on far longer than the council told them it would.

From the Westport side, it definitely stopped for the first 3/4 weeks of the first lockdown but was operating again by the end of March 2020

Utter nonsense. The UK contractor was back on site after a 5 week stoppage, mid April. Those two rock breakers and a third excavater were the only workers permitted to continue working thorugh the Covid lockdown across the N5/N59 project. The six other rocker breakers did not return for another four weeks.

Is it just me, or are they completely dragging the arse out of this section??

There seems to be minimal progress on this in the last 12 months

It was always going to be messy with 6 crossing points in 2km on the N59, plus the Greenway crossing. Despite that, it's been even slower than I expected. The Cregnahorna road is closed until August and the Slaugar road until October, which doesn't bode well for an early finish.

Speaking of the N59 section 😒🌧️

The N5/N84 junction is nearing completion, with landscaping works complete and lighting columns in place on the slip roads and mainline. Pics courtesy of Jack Walsh drone photography.

Yes, I think it's standard for all major junctions to have lighting.

Westport to Castlebar is well advanced too, it's only the Westport relief road and N59 section that are really lagging behind.