M7, J9a & Sallins Bypass Opening Friday the 9th 2021

The new Sallins Bypass will open to traffic at 11.00am on Friday 9th April. The bypass, which commences at Naas Distributor Road at Millenium Park, includes the new Junction 9a Osberstown Interchange, a new Sallins Roundabout and terminates at the Clane Road. It is the second phase of the overall project to be delivered.  The first phase, the M7 widening, was completed and opened to traffic on the 19th November 2019. The opening of the Sallins bypass will provide greater accessibility to and from the M7 to Naas, Sallins and environs.  The opening will not include the new link road from the Sallins Bypass to Sallins Village which is expected to open later this year.
 
The M7 widening and Sallins Bypass Scheme is funded by the Department of Transport, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Kildare County Council and constructed by the Siac/Colas joint venture.  During the height of the construction phase over 350 people were directly employed on the project. 
 
The new Sallins bypass has approximately 1.7 kilometres of dual carriageway and 1.85 kilometres of single carriageway with seven structures constructed including a structure under the Dublin Cork Railway Line and bridges over the M7 at Osberstown, Grand Canal and River Liffey.
 
Commenting on the opening of the new Sallins Bypass, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said:”The Sallins Bypass will provide much relief to congestion in Sallins Village and the surrounding area and will improve people’s daily life in the village of Sallins, Naas and beyond. The scheme includes measures to enhance cycling and walking with the provision of segregated cycle tracks and footpaths and connectivity to existing active travel routes.  In addition, the project will improve public transport routes particularly access to Sallins train station.”
 
Celina Barrett, Director of Services, Roads, Transportation and Public Safety, Kildare County Council said; “Kildare County Council is delighted to officially open the new Sallins Bypass. This is a significant infrastructure project and one that we believe will benefit the people of Kildare hugely through lower traffic volumes, improved access and a safer travel environment.  We are committed to delivering 
and enabling infrastructure for a connected county and this project is an important part of delivering on that commitment.”
 
Peter Walsh CEO TII said, “On behalf of TII, I would like to congratulate all involved in the completion of the Sallins Bypass. The successful collaboration between the Kildare National Roads Office, Kildare County Council and the Department of Transport assisted the contractor SIAC/Colas JV to bringing both the M7 Naas to Newbridge Upgrade Project and Sallins Bypass, with a new Junction (9a), to a successful completion.”
 
Active Travel infrastructure is a significant part of the new Sallins Bypass which includes  an additional 2.5km of shared cycle and pedestrian pathways and 2.3km of segregated cycleway and pedestrian foot paths in the Naas/Sallins area and connecting of the Grand Canal cycle track/footpath to the Naas Distributor road and Sallins Bypass.

The opening of the new road is expected to take significant traffic out of the village of Sallins creating a safer travel environment particularly for vulnerable road users within the village and surrounding area. Recent NTA funding for traffic calming, active travel measures and public realm initiatives will combine to enhance the village in tandem with the removal of traffic. Lower traffic volumes will improve public transport accessibility and particularly improve access to and from Sallins train station.