21 Sep 2017
Posted by Chris Jones 
There’s good news for anyone who regularly finds themselves stuck on the Naas Bypass. The M7 in Kildare is one of the busiest stretches of road in the country, with long delays common between the bypass and the M9 junction at peak times.
As well as carrying people between Kildare and Dublin, it’s also the main route between the capital and Munster, as well as sections of the midlands and south-east, with around 70,000 vehicles currently using it every day.
However, relief may soon be at hand. TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) has announced that the motorway will be widened in both directions from two lanes to three, for a 14km stretch between Junction 9 Naas North (commonly known as the Big Ball) and the M9 Interchange.
The road widening comes as part of a €120m package intended to ease congestion and improve the road network around Naas. A new junction will be added at Osberstown, between Junction 9 Naas North and Junction 10 Naas South, and called Junction 9a. A bypass will be built to take traffic out of Sallins, with a link road to the town centre, and the on and off ramps at Junction 10 will be replaced and relocated. See below for a detailed plan of the work.
TII say that the existing two lanes of traffic will be maintained between 6am and 10pm while construction is underway, with a reduced speed limit in place. Work is due to begin within the next month, with completion expected in early 2020.
See here for our recent article on the new M17/M18 motorway in Galway.
Main image by Dylan Moore, used under a CC-BY-SA-2.0 licence.
