R178 Cavan to Dundalk Strategic Regional Route

R178 CAVAN TO DUNDALK STRATEGIC REGIONAL ROUTE

Project Overview

LCC wish to upgrade two sections of the R178 Dundalk to Cavan Road. These sections were identified in the Cavan to Dundalk Strategic Regional Route Risk Based Safety Improvement Measures Report on Recommendations (June 2022). The report identified nine number RibGeom Priority Schemes and, as D6 and D7 are in close proximity (i.e. approximately within 100m of each other), LCC have taken the decision to progress these two schemes in tandem.

The Project is being delivered by LCC in partnership with the Department of Transport (DoT).  In December 2024, RPS was appointed by LCC to provide multi-disciplinary engineering and other specialist consultancy services for the R178 Cavan to Dundalk Strategic Regional Route. RPS’s services will initially be delivered through Phase 1 (Concept and Feasibility) to Phase 2 (Options Selection) of the TII Project Management Guidelines. At the end of Phase 2, the DoT will decide on whether to approve the Project to proceed further.

Project Background

In March 2009 consultants were appointed by Cavan County Council to:

• Review the 2001 strategic study of the development of an east west link road connecting Sligo to Dundalk and validate or revise the conclusions of the study, as necessary.

• Carry out a Constraints Study, Route Selection and Preliminary Design for the Cavan-Dundalk strategic route improvement element of the Sligo to Dundalk route, in accordance with Phase 2 to Phase 4 of the NRA Project Management Guidelines.

According to the findings of the Strategic Study of the Development of an East West Link Road, 2001, the route corridor with the greatest potential to meet the objectives and to serve the needs of the study area was identified as Sligo to Manorhamilton to Enniskillen (N16/A4) to Belturbet (A509) to Cootehill to Carrickmacross to Dundalk. In 2009, the consultant reviewed the findings of the 2001 study and having established that the previous route for the strategic Dundalk-Sligo corridor remained the preferred solution, commenced work on the feasibility of the improvements to the section of the strategic route between Cavan and Dundalk. The intention at that time was that the section of the route from Cavan- Enniskillen-Sligo would be the subject of separate studies. A Route Improvement Strategy Report was published in February 2011, which identified a consistent improvement strategy for the route. The resulting recommended design was presented in the draft Preliminary Design Report (Stages 1 and 2), which were completed in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Due to funding restrictions, the Cavan to Dundalk Project was not progressed through to planning and implementation stages. In October 2018, a Stage 1 Preliminary Appraisal of the route improvements described in the 2015 Preliminary Design Report began. Subsequent discussions between Cavan County Council and the DoT identified an alternative approach for the corridor, namely undertaking a pilot risk-based assessment of the route based on “RibGeom” methodology.

In June 2022, the Cavan to Dundalk Strategic Regional Route Risk Based Safety Improvement Measures Report on Recommendations was issued. The report identified nine number RibGeom Priority Schemes, of which four schemes are identified in Co. Louth, namely D2, D4, D6 and D7. As D6 and D7 are in close proximity (i.e. approximately within 100m of each other), LCC have taken the decision to progress these two schemes in tandem (the Project).