The proposal
The Armagh Area Plan 2004 includes proposals for single carriageway North Link and West Link roads around the City of Armagh linking from the A3 Portadown Road to the A3 Monaghan Road. These proposals were considered with three other options and an out-of-town corridor was confirmed as the preferred option on 26 June 2008.
Description
The A3 Armagh North and West Link scheme is included in the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan 2015, published in March 2005. It is listed in the Preparation Pool which contains schemes expected to be implemented within the next 5 years subject to satisfactory completion of the necessary Statutory procedures and the level of funding available at that time. Roads Service (now DfI Roads) has appointed consultants to assist with the development and progression of the scheme. In March 2007 a Consultation Day was held which detailed the process for assessing the route corridor options that were brought forward to Stage 2 preferred corridor assessment and explained the work that would be carried out to assess their suitability.
Three corridors were assessed under engineering, environmental, and transport criteria to determine suitability.
The assessment criteria included:
- environmental impact
- safety
- economy
- integration
- accessibility
Current position
The Department is currently developing proposals for a new Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan (RSTN TP) which will set out the priorities for future development of the main road and rail networks.
The future progression of this scheme will be dependent on priorities determined by the Minister, in the context of available capital budgets and informed by the new RSTN TP.
Scheme documents
- A3 Armagh North and West Link - preferred corridor
- A3 Armagh North and West Link - Stage 1 Scheme assessment report
Key dates
- 13 March 2006 - Public information day
- 20 March 2007 - Public information day
- 26 June 2008 - Public information day - selection of preferred route corridor
- 11 June 2014 - Associated public information day with Armagh East Link
Cost
- £55 to £75M (estimate will be subject to review)
Updated June 2020