N/M20 Cork to Limerick connectivity

In Ireland, we’re bringing communities closer together. The N/M20 Cork to Limerick Project, for which WSP has provided multidisciplinary technical advice since 2019, will upgrade the connection between the country’s second-and third-largest cities. As well as its economic, social and environmental benefits, the project is redefining how Ireland plans and designs its infrastructure.

Location

Co. Cork, Ireland
Co. Limerick, Ireland

Client

Limerick City and County Council

Project Status

Ongoing

A locally, regionally and nationally significant transport project

Until now, poor connectivity means Cork and Limerick have surprisingly few economic links, even though they are only around 100km apart. This lack of effective transport connections holds back the regional economy. And it undermines the potential for the 50% population growth for both Cork and Limerick identified in the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan. This makes the N/M20 a strategic priority.

WSP is at the heart of the transformational scheme. Our transport solution includes 80km of new motorway, 100km of new active travel infrastructure, multimodal transport hubs, and a freight hub. The route will reuse much of the existing N20 road and its corridor, with new sections to improve safety and remove heavy traffic from communities along the route.

Key facts

Kilometers of new motorway

80

Kilometers of new active travel infrastructure

100

Year WSP provided multidisciplinary technical advice

2019

Unlocking multiple benefits from a multimodal approach

We’re supporting the project with engineering design and environmental planning from concept and feasibility through to the statutory procedures required for planning approval. We work in partnership with Egis in Ireland, as part of a team that includes Limerick City and County Council, Cork County Council, Cork City Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, and the Department of Transport. Together, our focus is on creating a high-quality multimodal transport corridor that delivers multiple benefits:

Safer roads for all with better journey times – lowering the existing N20’s fatal collision rate, which is four times the national average
Fewer lorries, and less noise and pollution, in towns and villages along the route of the declassified N20
Cutting carbon by encouraging modal shift and by embedding the PAS 2080:2023 carbon management standard in design and decision-making
An innovative network of rural transport hubs that enable people to park and share vehicles, walk, cycle, or ride public transport – and which include charging facilities and amenities.
A dedicated freight hub providing secured parking, rest facilities and EV charging to promote electrification of the fleet.
Enhanced opportunities for reliable and frequent bus services with improved access to rail and bus interchanges.
Safe and enjoyable cycling and walking routes that connect to workplaces, schools and amenities – including 30km of routes using space reallocated from the N20
Economic growth as the two cities become better connected – a key part of the government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan

An integrated team focused on collaboration

Since it was identified as a priority in 1998, the N/M20 Cork to Limerick Project has evolved from a purely road-focused project into a multimodal transport scheme. As the scope widened, we responded quickly.

Leading from the Limerick project office, our local team draws on expertise from our wider Ireland and UK business. This gives our client seamless access to specialist expertise in roads, as well as areas such as active travel, carbon, the circular economy, alternative funding, flooding and hydrogeology. At the same time, the next generation of engineers is gaining vital experience working on this complex and high-profile project.

I have been fortunate to work across both the roads and active travel elements of the NM20 project. This experience has been invaluable to my professional development, providing the opportunity to contribute to a truly outstanding scheme.
It also offers significant exposure to multidisciplinary working, allowing me to help shape a successful outcome for the scheme’s intended users. These experiences ultimately supported my achievement of IEng MICE status with the ICE, forming a strong foundation for both my professional review report and interview.

Robert Magill Assistant Engineer, Roads, Belfast

Robert Magill Assistant Engineer, Roads, Belfast

Designing Ireland’s longest-ever road project takes teamwork. Throughout, we’ve adopted a collaborative approach with our clients, our fellow consultants and the project’s stakeholders. For example, we share an office and discipline leads with Egis – forming a collective, supportive resource. And our dedicated project liaison team has built strong relationships with landowners. They’ve helped keep the project on track by arranging access for surveys, answering queries and ensuring landowners always have the latest information – in both English and Irish.

Embedding carbon management and circular thinking

Our involvement started with a single question: What’s the best way to improve connectivity between Cork and Limerick, and the intermediate communities? From this, we helped develop a multimodal proposal that incorporates road, rail, bus, active travel, and environmental aspects. Whole-life carbon assessment informed the decision on the preferred option, which also includes a recommendation for a new direct train service.

WSP is certified to PAS 2080, the globally recognised standard for carbon management in buildings and infrastructure. Since the start of the project, we’ve been following this standard to assess, manage and reduce its whole-life carbon. This means we scrutinise each decision for opportunities to minimise carbon while creating other benefits. One example is our approach to balancing the cut and fill material along the route.

We knew there must be a better alternative to having lorries haul thousands of tonnes of excavated material long distances to waste facilities. So, after studying the problem, we proposed using parcels of severed land adjacent to the route for material deposition and reuse. When construction is complete, these areas will be managed to promote biodiversity.

Responding to evolving guidance and raising the bar

The N/M20 project team has also reviewed the evolving guidance on biodiversity and they are developing planting proposals that will maximise the biodiversity value of all available land across the project. This includes enhanced roadside planting, reusing severed land and designing all attenuation ponds to be permanently wet, creating new habitats.

Biodiversity is just one area where national and EU guidance and best practice continue to evolve. The N/M20 is the first major road project in Ireland to use a multi-criteria analysis for selecting the best road type. So rather than just looking at traffic flow when selecting the cross-section, we analysed a host of safety, social, environmental and economic factors.

The N/M20 team is also advancing the standards to be used on this and subsequent projects – feeding implementation experience back to Transport Infrastructure Ireland. This includes details of our assessment of road cross-section and safety barriers, and innovative planting to mitigate the impact on barn owls while enhancing biodiversity.

Influencing the design of major infrastructure

Even before construction begins, the N/M20 is making an impact. Many of the innovations we’ve introduced to the project are already being rolled out on other road schemes across Ireland. As this once-in-a-generation connectivity enhancement progresses, it will continue to shape the way the country delivers major infrastructure.

The N/M20 Cork to Limerick Project will be submitted to the Department of Transport and, subject to approval, will then proceed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, Ireland’s national planning body.