The Southern Relief Road in Bandon has been described as “very complex” by Cork County Council’s director of roads, writes Chris Benn.

Pádraig Barrett made the comments following a question posed by Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) during a meeting of the Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District last week.

She asked for an update on the project, saying the people of Bandon have been waiting three decades to see it completed.

Cllr Coughlan also asked about the Northern Distributor Road, adding that the population has already outgrown the current infrastructure.

She said the projects would open up new areas to develop to the south of the town and alleviate the growing traffic problem, which she said will only get worse with more housing projects in development.

Mr Barrett, who is also the manager of Bandon/Kinsale MD, told the elected members that a draft route had been identified for the southern bypass.

He explained that the difficulty was finding an “affordable and constructible” corridor that limited damage along its path.

The preferred route is currently being scrutinised by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) as part of a peer review process.

Mr Barrett said he expects to be able to share details with councillors in a few months, as soon as that process is closed off and the council has received TII approval.

He also revealed that a draft Project Outline Document for the the Northern Distributor Road has been sent to the Department of Transport for their consideration and the council are waiting for a response.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.