A5 Strabane Bypass Stage 3

 

Status
Construction scheme (cancelled)
Where
Completion of the north-south bypass of Strabane
Total Length
1.4km / 0.9 miles  (changed from 1.0 km / 0.6 miles)
Dates

Phases 1 and 2 were completed by September 2003
Included in the Regional Strategic Transport Plan 2015 released in 2005

Consultation and design work began late 2005

Scheme on hold as of Sept 2007 pending outcome of A5 dualling proposal

Scheme cancelled due to wider A5 dualing project - Nov 2007

Statutory procedures to be completed in 2008

Construction sometime between 2008 and 2011

Cost
£4.1m (revised from £2.9m)
Photos
None as yet. Please e-mail me if you have any.
See Also

General area map - Google Maps

Route map - see green line on p11 of this 2.8MB PDF file.
A5 dualling scheme on this site

A5 Strabane Bypass on this site

A5 Strabane to N14/N15 Lifford link road on this site

The Strabane Bypass carried 12,000 vehicles on the strategic Dublin to Londonderry route upon the completion of phase 2 in 2003. This third and final phase will see the bypass extended by 1km at the northern end to skirt past the residential developments on the A5 Derry Road at the northern side of the town. According to the Roads Service the scheme will "extend to the A5 Victoria Road in the vicinity of Woodend Bridge" - see the route map linked to above for a more precise alignment.

In 2007 a plan was announced which, with 60% of the funding coming from the Republic of Ireland, would eventually dual the entire A5 from Londonderry, via Strabane and Omagh, to the Irish border at Aughnacloy. As of November 2007, Stage 3 of the bypass has been "subsumed into the A5 dualling project" according to Roads Service.

Progress

Update 16 Dec 2007: According to the Strabane Chronicle on 22 Nov 2007, stage 3 of the Bypass has now been cancelled, superseded by the A5 dualling project. Roads Service said "It has now been decided that the bypass scheme will be subsumed into the A5 dualling project. There is the possibility that the eventual preferred route for the dualling may coincide with the preferred route for the third stage of the bypass." They said that landowners whose land will now NOT be vested for stage 3 of the bypass will not be compensated, except for any test holes dug on their land. The landowners expressed anger that they have been left uncertain as to the future of their land.

Update 27 Sep 2007: The recent agreement between the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government to jointly fund an upgrade of the A5 from Derry to Aughnacloy has raised a question mark over this proposed extension to the existing Strabane Bypass. As of September 2007 the Roads Service web site has the scheme marked simply as "awaiting developments on the A5 corridor". If the A5 dualling proceeds along the existing Strabane Bypass, the design will need modified. If the A5 dualling is carried out on a new alignment this scheme may either proceed or be abandoned depending on the outcome of revised traffic studies.

Photos

I currently don't have any photos of the area of phase 3 of the scheme. If you have any to contribute, please contact me.