Virginia Bypass project progressing

Surveying work as part of the Virginia bypass project is to take place.

Cavan County Council, which is leading the planning of the new road, has advertised for interested parties to carry out topographical surveys.

It says surveying of roads, watercourses, ground truthing and river floodplains will need to be carried out under the contract. Detailed mapping and CAD models will then be generated.

The successful applicant will also be expected to provide the necessary traffic management while surveying is being carried out.

The data gathered in the surveying will feed into the planning and design of the new road which has been underway for a number of years.

Surveying work is expected to take place across the latter stages of 2022. Jacob Consulting, which is coordinating the planning of the bypass on behalf of Cavan County Council, says landowners will be contacted ahead of any entry onto land in the area.

It’s the latest phase of work on the long-awaited and much-delayed bypass project.

The preferred route corridor was published late last year ahead of the design process beginning.

Approval from Transport Infrastructure Ireland will be needed prior to further planning and design work taking place, however, the N3’s inclusion in the Government’s National Development Plan announced last year means that is likely only a formality.

The proposed route would see the new bypass built to the north of Virginia town, running from Whitegate to Lisgrey.

It’s expected construction, if approved, is a number of years away, with final designs to be completed and an oral hearing to be carried out by An Bord Pleanála.