Virginia bypass route ‘not decided'

The proposed route of the planned Virginia N3 bypass has not yet been finalised, and won't be until an appraisal of business needs linked to the development of 81 acres of council-owned land near the town is completed.

Such was the information divulged to elected members at their recent monthly meeting by Council Chief Executive Tommy Ryan.
The meeting was told work is almost finalised on a pre-appraisal report, but that a full appraisal would need to be drawn up and sent to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), formerly National Roads Authority (NRA). This, it's expected, will take several months to complete, nearer the end of 2018 into early 2019.
“It has to be completed first and sent to Transport Infrastructure Ireland,” Mr Ryan said.
He added of the proposed route: “When there is anything available we'll make it available - but at the moment there is nothing.”
The proposed bypass is the only Cavan project included in Project Ireland 2040, the Government's much vaunted 22-year €116 billion capital expenditure vision.
It's development is linked to rezoning 81-acres of greenfield site east of Virginia town, earmarked for potential future foreign direct investment.
The process to alter the County Development Plan (CDP) is expected to be progressed by the end of the summer, with full rezoning from agricultural to economic use pushed through by December of this year.
It was revealed earlier this year an unnamed US-based pet food company had examined the Burncarragh site last year. It is unclear if they remain interested in the location 
Separately, a local company reportedly moved its planned expansion to neighbouring Co Meath due to a failure to attain additional development land in the same location. The new 50,000 sq ft warehousing facility, it's believed, had the potential to create up to 140 jobs.
Once again Fine Gael's Paddy O'Reilly slammed the executive for perceived inaction on the issue, and demanded a funding reserve be put in place to support economic development in the county.