Clare County Council is to spend up to €30m to end one of the most notorious traffic bottlenecks in the country at Blaker’s Corner in the north Clare town of Ennistymon.
This is disclosed in new tender related documentation for the works where the Council has initiated the procurement process for the main contract for a new bridge in Ennistymon and the Council estimate that the works could cost up to €30m.
The construction of the new bridge will end the long standing Blake’s Corner bottleneck that delays tens of thousands of motorists every year on their way to and from the Cliffs of Moher and seaside resort, Lahinch.
A spokeswoman for the council said today that “while it is too early to confirm a definitive construction start date, subject to the completion of the procurement process and all necessary approvals, main works are currently expected to commence in mid 2027”.
The council spokeswoman said that the estimated construction duration is approximately 18 months.
The documentation published today is to seek to put in place a shortlist of qualified candidates to tender for the main contract.
The new bridge – which will be 80 metres upstream of the existing bridge – will involve the demolition of one family home that includes a florist and a local branch of the Dept of Social Protection.
The scheme also involves the pedestrianisation of the existing bridge.
The project has been bedevilled by delays and the council move to procurement comes four years after An Bord Pleanála confirmed the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the project.
Two of the objectors to the CPO John and Sheena Clancy, Bogbere Street, Ennistymon told the appeals board that the CPO process has had a significant stressful impact on them as the proposal entails loss of a family home and business in which considerable investment has been made and consider it an inappropriate and disproportionate action by the Council
The Clancys subsequently took a High Court action and the High Court last October refused their leave to take a judicial review action against the CPO.
Ms Justice Emily Farrell found that the Clancys’ grounds “do not demonstrate substantial grounds to challenge the decision of the Board”.
An oral hearing was held into the CPO application over two days in June 2021 and in response to the objectors who will lose their properties, the council stated that “the home and business property owners will be suitably compensated and that alternative properties are available in the local area”.
