{"id":464146,"date":"2026-05-24T01:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T01:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464146\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T01:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T01:01:09","slug":"how-long-is-a-piece-of-string-no-clear-timeline-for-delivery-of-limerick-bypasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464146\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How long is a piece of string?\u2019 – No clear timeline for delivery of Limerick bypasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

THERE is no clear timeline for the delivery of bypasses planned for two towns in County Limerick<\/a>, a council meeting has heard.<\/p>\n

An update on the N21 Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale Road Schemes was provided at the May meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District.<\/p>\n

The two schemes aim to relieve congestion on the N21 Limerick to Tralee road through Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale.<\/p>\n

Deirdre Clarke, Senior Executive Engineer at Limerick City and County Council, outlined the progress that is being made on the two projects.<\/p>\n

Ms Clarke said that the Newcastle West scheme is \u201csubstantially advanced\u201d, with the design currently being reviewed for the second time.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT:\u00a0Judge says Limerick man was lucky to be picked up by garda\u00ed<\/a><\/p>\n

She explained that comments arising from the original design are due to be incorporated, after \u201cextensive engagement\u201d with local landowners.<\/p>\n

Ms Clarke continued by saying that ecologists are currently conducting ecology surveys at the site with the aim of reducing the risk of challenges at the planning stage.<\/p>\n

She added that it is hoped that the planning application for the development will be submitted to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

While the Abbeyfeale scheme is going through a similar process, Ms Clarke said that it is running \u201cslightly behind\u201d, with the Newcastle West scheme two or three months ahead.<\/p>\n

The Cathaoirleach, Cllr Michael Collins, expressed frustration at this situation, highlighting that the two schemes were supposed to be advancing together.<\/p>\n

He also questioned the amount of engagement with local residents that has been undertaken.<\/p>\n

Cllr Collins said that some residents had told him that they \u201chaven\u2019t heard anything in months\u201d and that he was \u201cgetting that quite regularly\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told the meeting that this presents a very stressful situation for those who will be moving home to make way for the schemes.<\/p>\n

Cllr Collins called for a \u201csimple update\u201d to be given over the phone to those residents in order to alleviate their stress.<\/p>\n

These sentiments were echoed by Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin, who argued that the two projects have to be given priority by An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la.<\/p>\n

He said that these projects can\u2019t be allowed to \u201csit on someone\u2019s desk for months\u201d and concluded by asking how long the planning process is expected to take.<\/p>\n

To this, Ms Clarke responded by asking \u201chow long is a piece of string?\u201d.<\/p>\n

She went on to explain that the Abbeyfeale scheme has fallen behind because it involves a \u201cslightly more complicated design\u201d given the surrounding landscape.<\/p>\n

Ms Clarke also told councillors that each scheme will cost in the region of \u20ac200m.<\/p>\n

Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan said that the council \u201cneeds to be mindful\u201d of the stressful situation facing those who will be moving to new homes.<\/p>\n

Cllr Scanlan continued by saying it was \u201cextremely important\u201d that the council maintains communication with the local residents, who are facing \u201cone of the most stressful events of one\u2019s life\u201d.<\/p>\n

He concluded by asking if the council has any indication of a completion date for the two schemes.<\/p>\n

In response, Ms Clarke said that it was \u201cvery difficult\u201d to give a clear timeline for the delivery of the two projects, because they could face challenges at the planning stage.<\/p>\n

She explained that the planning process alone could take two years and that in the \u201cbest case scenario\u201d the projects will be delivered \u201cbeyond 2030\u201d.<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THERE is no clear timeline for the delivery of bypasses planned for two towns in County Limerick, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5316,61,60,14563,4580,43],"class_list":["post-464146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-abbeyfeale","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick-city-and-county-council","tag-newcastle-west","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}