'The most important infrastructure project ’: Long-awaited Kilkenny transport development moving forward

The long-awaited Kilkenny City North Transport Project, which would see the Ring Road completed, is moving forward to Phase Two - Option Selection.

The project is hoped to greatly reduce traffic congestion in the city and although it is still years away from completion, work to identify specifics of the preferred route and details of development is finally getting underway.

Kilkenny City Municipal District councillors were updated on the status of the project at their monthly meeting on Friday by Gordon Gray, Associate Director at AtkinsRéalis, who was appointed as lead consultant in October 2025.

This phase will assess challenges such as congestion, cross-river connectivity, road safety, access to key destinations and mobility for all users while developing a broad range of feasible transport options based on physical, environmental and land use constraints.

Aspects that will be particularly focused on in the options stage are measures to support active travel such as improvements for walking and cycling, public transport enhancements including bus connectivity and road network improvement to upgrade existing infrastructure where possible.

The project will attempt to tackle several transport issues currently facing the north of the city like the congestion faced at key approach routes during peak times which are worsened by limited cross-river connectivity along with restricted public transport priority and lack of continuous walking and cycling paths impacting mobility options.

Any preferred option that is identified will take into account the needs and opportunities in the area through detailed analysis and surveying.

This will consist of examining population, employment and commuter trends to help identify pressure points on the transport network, ensuring easy access to schools, healthcare and workplaces while promoting compact growth, sustainable mobility and climate action to create a resilient system. 

A previous version of the development, the Kilkenny Northern Ring Road Extension was approved by KCC in 2014, but after legal challenges that went all the way to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the project was shelved.

The objections were brought on environmental grounds which claimed that the Council had failed to consider the effects of alternate options to the road and that an appropriate assessment conducted by the local authority was deficient.

The 2014 proposal would have cut through a number of protected natural areas including a special kingfisher protection zone and the only site in the world inhabited by the Nore freshwater pearl mussel.

Although the Kilkenny City North Transport Project is entirely separate from this, all stakeholders are keen to avoid a repeat of previous mistakes and a raft of environmental studies will be carried out to assess how any suggested options could impact the landscape.

Ecological appraisal and targeted surveys for bats, otters, badgers and birds are to be carried out seasonally for accuracy while special consideration will be given to protecting sensitive ecosystems along the Nore.

Flood risk assessments will be undertaken to ensure no increased risk to communities and to integrate climate adaptation into project planning.

These assessments will be undertaken earlier and in greater depth than is typically required at the options stage and their scope is said to be wider than what is normally carried out at this phase as advanced environmental modelling will be used to predict potential impacts with increased accuracy.

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Commenting on the presentation, Cllr Joe Malone (FF), said the progress was “long overdue”, that “Kilkenny is choked” and he didn’t want “to be in a nursing home in 20 years and hear there’s still no Ring Road extension.”

Several landowners whose holdings may be impacted by the project were present at the meeting and councillors stressed the importance of strong communication and cooperation between consultants and locals.

“It would be reprehensible if we were allowed to let this project proceed without their support”, said Cllr David Fitzgerald (FG), adding that other than the N24/N25 realignment, this was “the most important infrastructure project that will come before the Council in this term and the next.”

These sentiments were echoed by Cllr Seán Ó hArgáin (Lab) who commented that “this is one of the most important meetings since I was elected in 2004.”

Cllr Maria Dollard (GP) praised the fact that lessons had seemed to be learned from the past’s lack of engagement and environmental consideration, asserting that the “best time to start this was in 2014” and “people were not listened to at the time.”

The problem with engagement was also cited by Cllr Eugene McGuinness (Ind) who added that other infrastructure projects were being “compromised” by not having the extension and quipped that he was “looking forward to driving out the Ring Road to visit Joe (Cllr Malone) in the nursing home.”

A public consultation will be held at the Mayfair Library on March 3 from 10am to 7:45pm to provide an opportunity to learn about the project and understand how the team will assess and compare potential transport options.

Further public consultation events detailing the outcome of the options assessment will take place in Autumn 2027.

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