Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority have awarded a contract for the Athlone to Ballinasloe section of the N6, the new Dublin to Galway road.
The contract to design and build the 20km dual carriageway was worth over €89 million, according to a notice published on the Government's e-tendering website yesterday.
The figure does not include land costs, which bring the total bill to more than €210 million.
The successful construction tender was a joint venture between Siac and Wills of Foxford, Co Mayo.
The contract includes a kilometre of link road, the realignment of four kilometres of local roads, 12 bridges and 13kms of farm accommodation roads.
The new road extends southwest from the western end of the existing Athlone bypass to tie in with the proposed Galway to Bal-linasloe scheme.
The Athlone to Ballinasloe dual carriageway is the final section of the N6 Dublin to Galway highway to begin under the major inter-urban roads programme. It is due for completion by the autumn of 2010. Work is already under way on the penultimate section, the Ballinasloe to Galway road, which is also scheduled for completion in 2010.
