One of the busiest stretches of road in Ireland is about to get a serious upgrade

News that will come as a relief to anyone who’s been stuck in traffic here.

The Naas bypass on the M7 will soon be widened from two to three lanes in an effort to ease traffic congestion on one of the busiest stretches of road in the country. Plans to upgrade the stretch of road had been in place for some time and the upgrade to the M7 Naas to Newbridge bypass, the M7 Osberstown Interchange and the R407 Sallins Bypass was officially announced by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTaS), Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Kildare County Council on Thursday. Currently, the M7 carries approximately 70,000 vehicles per day and is the main network connection to M9/Waterford, M8/Cork and M7/Limerick. The existing M7 motorway will be widened from two lanes to three lanes both eastbound and westbound for approximately 14km, between Junction 9 Naas North, at Maudlins (Perpetual Motion Ball) and the M7/M9 interchange at Junction 11. As well as that, in phase two of the project, existing ramps at Junction 10 Naas South Newhall to the main Naas Newbridge dual carriageway will be replaced and relocated and a new interchange, designated as Junction 9a, will be constructed at Osberstown between Junctions 9 and 10. Phase Three, meanwhile will focus on the Sallins Bypass, which includes approximately 1.7km of new Type 2 Dual Carriageway and 2 km of single carriageway, together with a 1.2km single carriageway link road from the Bypass to Sallins town centre. The scheme involves the construction of six new structures, including two bridges over the River Liffey, a bridge over the Grand Canal, the new Osberstown Interchange bridge over the M7 motorway and a minor road bridge carrying Osberstown Road over the Sallins Bypass. The Sallins Bypass bridge under the main Dublin Cork railway line, meanwhile, will be constructed by Irish Rail under a separate but parallel contract. The project is due to start before the end of October and is expected to be completed in early 2020. Traffic management will be in place along the M7 from junction 9 Naas North to junction 11 M7/M9 at various phases during the term of construction. In news that will come as a relief to motorists who regularly use the road, however, two lanes of traffic will be maintained at all times between 6am and 10pm while traffic management is in place. For the duration of active construction works, there will be a special speed limit in place and an emergency lane will be available through the works at all times. Commenting on the announcement of the project, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "I'm thrilled that work will start soon on widening the M7 from Naas to the M9, along with the bypass of Sallins and a new Interchange at Osberstown. “It's a vital motorway for commuters and for freight transport, which is prone to congestion at peak times. This project will also benefit residents and businesses in County Kildare with improved access. As Minister for Transport I oversaw the Newlands Cross fly-over which removed the last traffic light between Cork and Belfast. “This project is almost next door and takes that upgrade one step further. Projects like this will help us to ensure balanced regional development, and that all parts of Ireland share in the recovery and growing prosperity."