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Despite the wet summer, construction crews have continued at pace on the 56 km stretch from Doughiska to Ballinasloe
The majority of the 56km motorway has already been paved to binder-course layer and in the coming weeks, all vehicles and work will have to be completed before the top layer (known as the wearing course ) is applied.
The M6 Galway to Ballinasloe motorway extends from Doughiska to the townland of Tulrush, east of Ballinasloe. It consists of 56km of motorway with a 7km single carriageway link from Carrowkeel to Loughrea, as well as 25km of realigned side roads.
Construction started in early 2007 and involved the excavation of 3.73 million cubic metres of cut material and the placing of 6.34 million cubic metres of fill material.
During this phase, the traffic of heavy goods vehicles to the site was extensive, much to the annoyance of residents along the routes to the site.
The contract involved the construction of 41 road bridges, three railway bridges, and eight river bridges. Ninety-five per cent of the work on these has been completed. There are a further 45 mammal underpasses on the scheme, to allow farmers and animals to cross the route without endangering their lives or the lives of road users.
Between Galway and Ballinasloe, there will be one toll plaza and this structure (pictured here ) is located at Cappataggle. Between Galway and Dublin, users should pass through two toll booths with an average cost of €10 per return journey between Galway and the capital.
This booth will create 45 new positions, all of which are hoped to be filled from the locality.
The motorway was constructed as part of a PPP (Public Private Partnership ) so will be in the ownership of N6 Concession Ltd for a period of 30 years, starting on January 4, 2010.
