M20 Design Stage Tender

Contract Awarded for The M20 Design stage of the 100km Cork-Limerick motorway. However it is unlikely that the planned 900m M20 will be completed before 2027.Limerick City and County Council the lead local authority for the project has appointed JB Barry Transportation and its project partners WSP and Sweco as technical advisers. An original design was approved by An Bord Pleanla but planning lapsed following the Governments decision to mothball the project after the 2008 financial crisis. It may take at least two years before a new design is completed and planning approval secured. Following any tendering process it could be a further two years before construction is underway possibly in 2023. The National Development Plan envisages the motorway will be completed in 2027.The Limerick local authority in partnership with Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland TII is developing the proposed motorway aimed at reducing journey times between the two cities by bypassing towns such as Charleville and Buttevant. A TII spokesman stated by economic interaction and inter-relationships between the cities were limited with poor transport connectivity being a factor .The technical advisers will be based at an M20 project office adjoining the Mid-West National Road Design Office in Dooradoyle Limerick. County councillors in Cork backed by County Hall engineers have long argued that the delay in providing a motorway is having a major impact on traffic volumes through Mallow town centre. In advance of a motorway being completed they are seeking a northern relief road around Mallow.