"The largest government investment in the history of Mayo."
Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring has confirmed that the government will invest €241 million in the construction of the N5 Westport to Turlough road.
The development will involve 20.3km of dual carriageway from Westport to Turlough and a 2.5km link to the N59, which passes through various towns in Sligo, Mayo and Galway.
The project was originally estimated to cost
€170 million, but its final cost will be over 40% more than that, a cost overrun of over €70 million.
In a video posted on his Twitter account, Ring said that it was "fantastic news for the county". Ring himself is a TD for the Mayo constituency.
"As you can see behind me, traffic jams into Westport every evening, and this new dual carriageway will connect Westport to Castlebar."
"It will create jobs and ease the congestion that the tourism sector and the people of Westport and surrounding areas have suffered for many years," he added.
You can watch Ring's announcement video in full below.
https://twitter.com/MichaelRingFG/status/1184084927601610752?s=20
