Link roads and overbridge proposed to ease traffic congestion on N24 in Clonmel

The unveiling of the long awaited Preferred Transport Solution for the upgraded 60km stretch of the N24 between Cahir and Waterford drew 1,650 people to the public consultation events last week in Cahir, Clonmel, Carrick and Mooncoin.

The Clonmel public consultation session in The Talbot Hotel on Wednesday, January 24 attracted the biggest turnout of 650 visitors who came to view the large scale maps and information boards dotted around the hotel ballroom and speak to experts from Tipperary County Council’s Roads Section and N24 design team consultants, Arup.

The big talking point in Clonmel was the decision not to propose a bypass for the town and to instead upgrade the existing N24 Clonmel Inner Relief Road and divert traffic on its most congested section between the Fethard and Cashel Roads roundabouts by constructing new link road and a road overbridge at one of the two busy junctions.

Tipperary County Council’s Director of Roads Services Marcus O’Connor explains that it was decided to propose bypasses for Kilsheelan and Carrick-on- Suir because traffic studies showed the vast majority of traffic travelled right through the village and town without any intention of stopping.

The traffic studies of Clonmel’s N24 Inner Relief Road showed a quite different trend. They found 83% of traffic travelling in both directions on this section of the N24 road were accessing Clonmel. Only 17% wanted to bypass the town.

“If you went and built an expensive big bypass it would only be carrying small volumes of traffic,” he said.

It's proposed to construct two new roads linking the Cashel and Fethard Roads with one of them continuing further cross country to emerge on the existing N24 at Carrigeen.

The nearest proposed link road to the existing N24 Inner Relief road will start on the Cashel Road side at Longfields and come out on the Fethard Road at an existing roundabout just beyond The Paddocks housing estate.

This road will then continue at the far side of the the Fethard Road, go around the back of the Willow Park and Carrigeen estates and join the existing N24 at the Carrigeen Business Park Roundabout.

The second proposed link road will start farther out on the Cashel Road around the Abbott Roundabout and go across and join the Fethard Road.

It’s proposed to replace one of the two busiest roundabouts on the Inner Relief Road with an overbridge including safe travel facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. It hasn’t been decided yet whether it the Cashel Road or Fethard Road Roundabout will be replaced.

“If you are coming out of the Fethard Road or Cashel Road in the evening or most mornings there is a queue of traffic to get onto the N24,” Mr O'Connor pointed out.

“By allowing traffic to go over that bridge it will take pressure off that section of the N24 road while the various links roads will allow people to bypass it.”

He said traffic modelling showed these measures will take about 40% of the traffic off the busiest section of the Inner Relief Road.

The upgrade of the rest of the N24 Clonmel Inner Relief Road will focus on widening sections of it, installing Active Travel measures to encourage pedestrians and cyclists and improve road safety to ensure people can safely cross the route.

Mr O’Connor said the type of road carraigeway (whether dual or single) on rural sections of the N24 hasn’t been decided yet but it's proposed to build new sections of the road between Moorestown near Cahir and Rathkeevin near Clonmel and at the approaches to the Kilsheelan, Carrick and Mooncoin bypasses.

Landowners and residents impacted by the N24 Cahir to Waterford Preferred Transport Solution who didn’t get to attend last week’s public consultation sessions can still arrange in-person or online meetings with the project team up to February 9.

Mr O’Connor stresses that the Preferred Transport Solution is a corridor of land of about 300m in width in rural areas and 150m in width in urban areas within which the final route of the upgraded N24 will be developed and improved.

At the end of this public consultation phase, the design team will draw up and publish the Option Selection Report. The actual route design and environmental impact studies will take place during the next third stage of the planning and design process.

The finalised plan will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for approval in the fourth phase. However, the progress of these next two phases depends on Government approval and funding being allocated.

The N24 upgrade still has a long way to go.