ANOTHER major roads project in County Galway will not go to construction this year — despite expectations that it was to start this spring.

It has been confirmed that there is no money allocated to begin work on the Galway to Ennis section of the N18. And this comes just two weeks after it was announced that the coffers had run dry on the M17 motorway from Tuam to Galway. This will now be constructed on a public private partnership arrangement.

There is also no funding made available to begin construction on the Tuam bypass despite compulsory purchase orders having been issued two years ago. Under Transport 21, work was to begin on new N18 — which includes a bypass for Gort — this spring but no funding has been made available.

However, the National Roads Authority confirmed that €20 million has been provided for the N18 but the vast bulk of this will go towards land purchase. The remainder will be spent on site surveys, an archaeological study of the route and what the NRA describe as advance work projects.

But what is of most concern is that this is a high priority route and the NRA have already made it clear that it is next in line to the Galway to Dublin ...................