Home

An update on the design of the Preferred Transport Solution, Design Update No. 1 January 2023, is available to view here. Phase 2 Option Selection Report is available here.      Please click here for News and Project Updates. A link to the Interactive map is available here. Please click here to book an online appointment.

Introduction

Tipperary County Council, in partnership with Limerick City and County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Department of Transport are developing the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction Project. Tipperary County Council, as lead authority, has appointed Arup as Technical Advisors to progress the Planning and Design for the Project through Phases 1 to 4 of the TII Project Management Guidelines (PMG) as outlined below:

• Phase 1 (Concept and Feasibility)
• Phase 2 (Option Selection)
• Phase 3 (Design and Environmental Evaluation)
• Phase 4 (Statutory Processes)

The Project is currently at Phase 3 Design and Environmental Evaluation. The interactive webmap can be viewed here.

Project Background

The N24 national primary route, is a strategic corridor from Limerick to Waterford, traversing through County Tipperary and is approximately 116km in length. It is recognised as being of particular importance in enhancing accessibility to towns it passes through, namely Tipperary Town, Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel, and their rural hinterland.

The section of the existing N24 under consideration in this Project, the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction Project, is between the M8 motorway, north of Cahir in County Tipperary and an appropriate tie-in point in County Limerick and traverses Tipperary Town and the villages of Bansha, Limerick Junction, Monard and Oola.

Existing Conditions

Initial studies for this project have identified that the existing road has restricted capacity due to its limited width, partially sub‐standard alignment and its passage through four villages and Tipperary Town. When considered in association with the very high level of junctions and private accesses on the existing route, this contributes to limited overtaking opportunities and unstable traffic flow regimes along the existing route. The existing route currently experiences bottlenecks and significant traffic delays through Tipperary Town. It is considered that the existing road is economically inefficient and detracts from the development and growth of the region.

Key Objectives

The key objectives of this project are to improve safety, journey reliability and the strategic function of this section of the N24 corridor. In achieving these objectives, the project will in turn:

• Encourage local, regional, national and international development by:
  • Improving journey time and journey time reliability
  • Provide opportunities for the economic development of Tipperary Town and other communities along the corridor
  • Improve connectivity between the cities of Waterford and Limerick
• Reduce social exclusion by enhancing accessibility to services from designated rural zones within the study area thus reducing disadvantage in these areas.
• Support health benefits derived from potential active modes by enabling opportunities for creating a safer environment for walking and cycling within the project extents.
• Reduce the potential for collisions through provision of a safer travel option for all users.

What’s Happening Now

The Project is currently at Phase 3 Design and Environmental Evaluation. The purpose of this phase is to develop the design of the Preferred Transport Solution identified in Phase 2 and undertake an environmental evaluation of the design to a sufficient level of detail to establish landtake requirements and to progress the project through the statutory process.

The Preferred Transport Solution was on Public Display in May 2022. A copy of all of the display material presented is available here. Following the conclusion of Public Display No. 3, the design team completed the Option Selection Report (OSR) and it has now been published. A copy of the OSR is avilable here. 

The OSR contains all of the supporting detail behind each step in the analysis during Phase 2, documenting both the assessments undertaken and the decisions made.

As part of the Design and Environmental Evaluation stage of the project a number of field surveys, including environmental, topographical and hydrographical surveys will be undertaken in the coming months within an area which includes, but is not limited to, the corridor for the road component for the Preferred Transport Solution.

Since the conclusion of Public Display No. 3 for the Preferred Transport Solution in May 2022, the project team have been progressing the design of the active travel, demand management and road components of the Preferred Transport Solution. The Preferred Option Corridor for the road component published in May 2022 as part of the Preferred Transport Solution has been refined to a 100m wide corridor. The design for the road component of the project is currently being progressed within this corridor. This refined 100m wide corridor lies predominantly within the 300m wide corridor that was published for the Preferred Transport Solution in May 2022. However, following detailed consideration of landowner engagement, stakeholder feedback, environmental surveys, and design development, the corridor diverges at a number of locations.​ In addition, proposed junction locations have been identified and are shown as shaded areas on the design update drawings.  The junction layouts are currently being developed within these areas. Potential active travel routes and demand management measures have also been identified and are also shown on the design update drawings.