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THE Government has approved plans for a €280m upgrade of the N22 Cork-Kerry road, which will include the long-awaited Macroom bypass.
It will see travel times between Cork city and Tralee and Killarney shortened considerably and will be welcomed by tourism and business interests in Kerry.
The cabinet gave approval to Cork County Council this week to award the contract for the scheme.
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The project is set to take three and a half years to complete and will see a 22km of new dual carriageway from Coolcower, east of Macroom which will see a northern bypass of Macroom town and a new dual carriageway continuing west to tie into the existing N22 close to the Cork-Kerry boundary.
Engineers have spent two years on preparatory works and once construction starts — and no start date has been confirmed yet — it will take three and a half years to complete. It’s understood the the Macroom bypass section will be built and opened before the western section is completed.
