THE Minister for Further and Higher Education, Limerick TD Patrick O’Donovan, described the N20 main Limerick to Cork road as a “glorified cattle track” that is “not safe” for motorists.
Speaking this Tuesday at the official sod turning on the new Garda Station in Newcastle West, the Fine Gael TD said that a motorway between the two counties should be constructed “as soon as possible”.
It’s proposed that upgrading the N20 to a full motorway would reduce travel times between the two cities and improve road safety.
“The second and third largest cities in the country should be linked with a high quality corridor. At the moment, they’re linked by a glorified cattle track, it’s not safe, it has numerous accidents and incidents on it every year,” said Minister O’Donovan.
“There are some desperately dangerous junctions on it, like at O’Rourke’s Cross, Rock Hill, and elsewhere, it carries a huge amount of traffic on a daily basis, and the sooner that we see a tender awarded and construction commence on the new M20 linking Limerick to Cork the better.”
The estimated cost of the road upgrade is around €2billion, and motorists would have to pay a toll, with travel times between the two cities reduced by up to 30 minutes.
Last June it was reported that at least 64 people had been killed in road traffic collisions on the N20 over the previous 27 years, and that collisions on the route were likely to be four times more fatal than the average Irish road.
However, a lack of confirmed funding for Transport Infrastructure Ireland has created a level of uncertainty about the progression of the scheme, and it was not specifically mentioned in Budget 2025.
Despite this, Minister O’Donovan said “the government have committed to the M20″, adding that “because it cuts right through the heart of my constituency, it should be a motorway”.
