End of April finish date for M7 roadworks is 'optimistic'

The state body responsible for the country's motorway network has said that the end-of-April completion date for the M7 widening project is 'considered optimistic'.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) also said that speed restrictions may remain in place for several more months.

The 60km per hour limit has been in place since late November for the protection of workers and motorists - and thousands of drivers have been prosecuted for speeding.

Around 80,000 vehicles use the busy traffic corridor every day.

Optimistic

In early January, the main contractor, Siac/Colas JV informed Kildare County Council, the Department of Transport and TII, that the three lanes of the M7 motorway would be operational in both directions by April 2019.

However the TII told the Irish Times that “the contractor’s forecast completion date of end April/early May is considered optimistic by the [TII] site team”.

TII also warned “the removal of traffic management and speed restrictions are likely to occur on an incremental basis from the end of April, but could extend into August”.

The major M7 upgrade, which involves widening the motorway from two to three lanes in both directions to ease congestion, began in January 2018.

The road is being widened for a distance of 13.6km, between Junction 8 (Johnstown) to the M7 and the M9 Interchange at Junction 11.

The contract also involves the replacement and relocation of the existing ramps at at Junction 10 (Naas South-Newhall) to the main Naas Newbridge dual carriageway, the R445.

The new Interchange at Osberstown and the new Sallins Bypass are also included in the project and are due to be completed by early 2020.

The Sallins Bypass includes the construction of six new bridges including two crossings over the River Liffey, one crossing over the Grand Canal and one crossing under the Cork-Dublin rail line.