Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress being made with the Athy distributor road; the target date for opening the road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56639/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. State grants, where applicable, are intended to supplement the funding allocated to the maintenance and improvement of roads by local authorities from their own resources.

While there has been a significant increase in Exchequer funding for regional and local roads particularly in the last four years, funding is not yet at the level needed for the adequate protection and renewal of regional and local roads. For this reason the primary focus for capital investment under the National Development Plan (NDP) continues to be the protection and renewal of the network with some limited investment in road improvement schemes. The construction of a Distributor Road to the south of Athy connecting to the N78 is one of those schemes.

Following the conclusion of the tender process for the main construction contract for the scheme, the contract was awarded recently and the construction programme will now get underway. Kildare County Council is responsible for the implementation of the scheme and my understanding is that the estimated project completion date is 2024.