Contracts were signed for the Ballaghaderreen Town Public Realm Enhancement Scheme on Wednesday, March 13th. The total cost of the construction phase is approximately €3.5m and will be funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
Michael O’Malley Tarmacadam Contractors of Ballynew, Castlebar, Co Mayo, has been appointed to carry out the works. The construction phase will commence in the coming weeks and is expected to be substantially complete by August 2025.
BDP Consultants developed the project in consultation with the Ballaghaderreen Town Team, local businesses and community groups and the wider Ballaghaderreen community.
The construction phase provides for the introduction of shared spaces and amenity areas and a more pedestrian-friendly environment at Market Square.
The development will also see the provision of redesigned paved areas along Main Street, Barrack Street and Pound Street areas to improve pedestrian infrastructure along with new surfaces, lighting, hard and soft landscaping and street furniture in the aforementioned town centre areas.
The construction phase will also result in the delivery of one-way traffic systems at Cathedral Street and Chapel Street with improved pedestrian pavement network infrastructure and the introduction of hard and soft landscaped spaces. New asphalt road pavement surfaces will also be a feature of the development.
The Ballaghaderreen Town Centre Public Realm Enhancement Project has been developed with the strategic aim of realising the potential of the town centre to become a safer urban space and a more central part of everyday residential, commercial and community life.
The proposed scheme for Main Street, Market Square, Cathedral Street, Chapel Street, Barrack Street and Pound Street, represents a planned initiative towards a vision which seeks to provide new usable, shared spaces which will become critical infrastructures of the town centre.
A key motivation for this project is the creation of a stronger sense of place and identity for the town centre, improve the balance between pedestrian and road space, to create a vibrant and animated streetscape where community, retail and commercial life can function to serve all interests.
Speaking following the signing of contracts, Chief Executive of Roscommon County Council Shane Tiernan said this phase of development marked an exciting time for Ballaghaderreen and its hinterland: “The Ballaghaderreen Town Centre Public Realm Enhancement Project represents an expression of the ambition of Roscommon County Council to create a new and reimagined town centre, which will not only have a positive impact upon its physical composition, but also its economic and social environment, as this town progresses into the future”.
