Road boost in Ireland by Karen Miles and Brendan Nolan
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• Northern Irish operators are to receive a rare boost following a Government pledge to invest £100m in the Province's roads.
The surprise announcement, made by Chancellor Gordon Brown last week during his visit to Northern Ireland, means operators should see an easing of congestion on the West Link through Belfast and road widening on a number of other important routes.
Improvements to the West Link, which connects the M1 and M2, will be accompanied by the construction of a bypass on the Belfast to Londonderry road at Toome—another congestion black spot.
Other roads to be upgraded include those linking Belfast to Newry, Belfast to Lame, Antrim to Ballymena and Londonderry to Ballygawley.
Tipper operators should be able to benefit from the construction projects when they begin in two to three years' time.
Ballymena-based McBurney Transport cautiously welcomes the announcement. "Every little bit helps. The West Link, especially, gets very congested before and during peak times," says director Lynn McBurney.
D Truckers in Eire are also to get a smoother drive on border roads following the peace deal in Northern Ireland.
Noel Dempsey, the south's Environment Minister, has announced £3.5m-worth of grant allocations to go to the six border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Monaghan, Cavan and Louth.
The non-national roads allocations will go towards projects including better access to cross-border roads.
Bridge works and local roads will also benefit.
This money is in addition to more than £540,000 recently approved in grants for roads in these counties.