This new road scheme, which will consist of 2.6km of single carriageway, is due for completion towards the end of next year. The N5 Longford Bypass is the first of six new road starts beginning in 2011.

The Minister said: ‘I’m very pleased to be able to turn the sod for this new road in these difficult times for the economy. I’m very happy to confirm that five other projects are due to start this year. This project is already creating jobs, will improve road safety and add considerably to the quality of life in the area.

“These commencement works on the Longford bypass are evidence of this Government’s commitment to road safety. It follows the €75 million boost for shovel-ready transport projects which got the green light earlier this week, and which will make our roads safer following two very severe winters.”

The major benefits of the N5 Longford scheme include:

· Removing national traffic from the centre of Longford;

· Separating bypassing traffic from local traffic and pedestrians;

· An anticipated reduction in accidents in the order of 13%;

· An estimated journey time saving of eight minutes on average, and a minimum of 3 minutes for bypassing traffic.

Minister Varadkar added that: ‘Removing national traffic from the centre of Longford will free up access to business, resulting in an improved quality of life for residents, traders and the public in general. This new road will provide a brand-new link between the N4 at Moneylagan and the N5 National Route at Ballyminion. At present, there are no junctions between the N4 and the N5 roundabouts, so this new road will speed up travel times for those who live locally and those who are passing through Longford. The €26 million budget for the N5 Scheme includes all costs associated with the project, including the design costs of the land acquisition’.

“In the week that the RSA launched the UN Decade for Action on Road Safety, it’s important to note that this new road is expected to reduce accidents by a massive 13%.”

National Roads Authority Chairman Peter Malone said: ‘Once completed in 18 months, the N5 Longford Bypass will bring significant benefits to the businesses and residents of Longford town by removing unnecessary traffic and allowing for local tourism offerings to flourish’.

The plan first surfaced last year when the NRA advertised in the European Journal for tenders to supply a speed detection and control system in the tunnel.

However, it now transpires that the Department of Transport has withheld approval for the project on the basis that the authority was operating outside its competence.

The Department of Transport confirmed that speed enforcement is the responsibility of the Garda and funding for speed enforcement measures would normally come from the Department of Justice.

Speeding has been an on-going issue in the Port Tunnel since videos of lorries and cars breaking the 80 km/h limit were posted on the internet shortly after the route opened in 2006.

Haulage companies are annoyed at the NRA’s failure to adequately grit national primary roads. Hauliers raised concerns that the conditions on the national roads put their businesses as well as the safety of other motorists in general in danger.

Hauliers were particularly annoyed that slip roads on the M5O and other motorways were left untreated leaving hauliers struggling to facilitate the demand to move freight at one of the busiest times of the year.

“The NRA like everyone else had sufficient warning that a cold snap was imminent and that it would make driving conditions treacherous but failed utterly to prepare for that,” said Vincent Caulfield, President of the Association

.“Our members worked in extremely difficult circumstances to move freight without any assistance from any of the organisations who have responsibility for the safe passage of all motorists on national roads,” he added.

“Their only strategy seemed to be to wait for the cold snap to dissipate. This is unacceptable to our members throughout the country,” he added

The tunnel was evacuated after two heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) collided in the northbound bore shortly before midday

The evacuation was complicated by a second emergency, in which a motorist complained of chest pains. Some 40 motorists were stuck in the tunnel for up to two hours.

The HGV ban in Dublin city centre was lifted during the closure, which lasted until shortly before 4pm.

The Department of Transport has been transferred responsibility to the NRA, because of discrepancies in the cost of such works in different local authority areas.

“The reason was to check mainly if we are getting value for money. This arose from the fact that there was a huge discrepancy in the unit costs of repairs, road maintenance and so on from local authority to local authority, and there are different standards,” Transport Minister,  Noel Dempsey explained..

Fine Gael’s spokesman on Transport Fergus O’Dowd wants the NRA to confirm that safety system is working correctly.

O’Dowd made the call after receiving two reports, which were obtained under Freedom of Information legislation, which highlighted a series of issues with the safety system.

The two reports date from October 2007 and July 2008 suggested that the safety system that governs

the tunnel was not up to standard.

Among the issues identified in the reports was insufficient ventilation and air conditioning in an equipment room, causing it to overheat and not function correctly.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) announced on Thursday that contracts have been signed on three on the sites.

The NRA has signed a contract with the Superstop consortium to build three motorway service stations but another 12 planned stations have been shelved.

The current economic climate has been blamed for the decision to shelve 12 of the projects.

The three service areas on the M1, at Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Lusk Co Dublin, and  on the M4 at Enfield Co Kildare will operate 24 hours a day.

The NRA says  the service stations will be funded under a public / private partnership, including a consortium comprising Applegreen, TOP Oil and Pierse Contracting (Design & Construction).

Each of the service areas will provide facilities on either side of the motorway and at each location there will be a restaurant, convenience shop, toilet and showers facilities, fuel, and dedicated parking for HGV’s.