The Thurles Municipal District has put forward three suggestions for Transport Infrastructure Ireland to improve national roads.
The chairs of each of the five districts meet with the T.I.I. annually to negotiate funding for roads they believe would improve their areas.
The three suggestions put forward by the Thurles District included safety measures at Turtulla Cross, a slip road off the M8 at Two-Mile Borris and the introduction of a bypass in Thurles.
Councillor Sean Ryan told Tipp FM that they have asked for the Thurles bypass to be prioritised.
“The Thurles bypass was one big one. We feel that’s a county wide issue and it’s one of the main arterial routes to the midlands through Thurles via the N62 and the N75, and we feel a bypass would hugely benefit Thurles. We wanted that issue prioritised, not just for the Thurles district, but it’s a county-wide issue, like the N24 was prioritised earlier this year by the County Council as well. So, we’ve asked for that.”
The introduction of a slip road off the M8 at Two-Mile Borris would help ease congestion and improve journey times.
The Fianna Fáil councillor says a slip road off the M8 would be extremely beneficial for motorists travelling to Cork.
“We also looked as well, maybe for an extra slip road to be put off the M8 at Two-Mile Borris. Unfortunately, you can’t access the Cork section of the motorway for that and maybe it would be looked at as a long-term issue as well that you would have a double-slip coming off the motorway in Two-Mile Borris.
“At the moment, you can only access Dublin via the motorway in Two-Mile Borris. You can’t access Cork via that motorway. You’d have to travel to the Horse & Jockey or Urlingford and we just felt a double-slip off both sides might be something that the T.I.I. might look at going forward.”
