Skip to main content

EIB backing Irish motorway link

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financial backing worth €144 million for the new M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway project. The M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme is situated in the west of Ireland and will be constructed as a four lane motorway that will replace the existing N17/N18 roads. This new motorway will reduce journey times by around 20 minutes and has an overall cost estimated at €550 million. Construction work will start during this year and this is the second transport PPP to be signed un
April 30, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financial backing worth €144 million for the new M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway project. The M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme is situated in the west of Ireland and will be constructed as a four lane motorway that will replace the existing N17/N18 roads. This new motorway will reduce journey times by around 20 minutes and has an overall cost estimated at €550 million.

Construction work will start during this year and this is the second transport PPP to be signed under the present Irish Government, following the M11/Newlands Cross project. Ireland’s PPP programme stalled following the economic crisis of 2008 but is now fully operational again.

This 57km road will be a major boost to the Western region. The scheme will provide four lanes from Gort in the south to Tuam in the north, with a major junction with the M6 Galway-Dublin route to the east of Galway City. It will bypass Tuam, Ardrahan, Claregalway, Kilcolgan, Clarinbridge and Gort. The stretch bypassing Clarinbridge, Claregalway and Tuam will reduce current congestion and also improve safety. When completed, the new motorway will reduce journey times between Limerick and Galway. It will also reduce journey times from Galway to Shannon Airport, boosting the airport's growth prospects. The new road will form part of the Atlantic Corridor along Ireland’s west coast. Construction is expected to take less than four years and the first traffic along the route is expected in late 2018. All archaeological sites along the route have been investigated under licence from the National Museum and any compulsory purchase orders required to develop the road have already been completed.

The European Investment Bank will provide €144 million over 26 years for the scheme, representing a saving to the State. Another €150 million will be provided by commercial funders, with a mix of international and domestic project finance banks represented alongside new international institutional investors.

The Irish Government is investing in transport projects outside of capital Dublin. Later this year the Belturbet and Ballaghaderreen bypass will be opened. Meanwhile the tender process has yet to start for the Enniscorthy and New Ross PPPs.

Related Content

  • The UK’s first PFI road project opens
    May 18, 2012
    A new bypass around Carlisle in North West England has opened to the public two months ahead of schedule. The Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR) starts from the Wigton Road (A595) to the south west of Carlisle, follows a route around the west of the city crossing the River Eden on a new bridge near Stainton and the West Coast Main Line on a new two-lane bridge constructed at Kingmoor. The road layout allows easier access to West Cumbria from the roundabout at Junction 44 of the M6 rather than havin
  • Road sector drives Europe’s construction recovery
    September 13, 2017
    Despite political concerns and upheavals, Europe’s construction market is on the up, reports Graham Anderson Europe’s road building market is forecast to grow strongly in real terms up to 2019, as a strengthening economy boosts construction, creating investment and jobs. The market is predicted to grow by 16% between 2016 and 2019 and is being led by increases in the UK (39%), Norway (38%) and Poland (35%). In the UK, the market is buoyed by a number of major projects coming on stream, such as England’
  • New road reduces Carlisle congestion by 20%
    May 11, 2012
    Carlisle, in north-west England, has seen as 20% reduction in congestion since the opening of the city’s US$284million (£176m) Northern Development Route in February this year. Around 10,000 vehicles a day are using the new road, which is broadly in line with the predictions made by highways engineers when building a case to construct a new route connecting the A595 with the M6 around the western flank of the city. Traffic counters positioned on the new road show an average of 9,583 vehicles a day along the
  • Skanska wins major A46 upgrade in England
    September 2, 2022
    Construction on the deal worth almost €404.5 million is scheduled to start in 2025.