Navan-Slane road to close for five weeks

The N51 between Navan and Slane has been closed for a five-week period to facilitate upgrading works and diversions will be in place for the duration, starting from this week. The road will be closed from the Round O pub in Navan to the gates of Slane Castle so that road realignment works can be carried out. Council spokesperson Bill Sweeney said the scheme is part of an allocation to upgrade the N51 at a cost of €2.5m. The contract is taking place over a 45-week period and is expected to be completed in May, subject to possible weather-related delays. Mr Sweeney said the road would be closed from 25th January to 27th February, which is the minimum closure period possible. Those travelling from Slane to Navan will be diverted at Slane Castle along the R163 from Slane to Kilberry and the R162 from Kilberry to Navan. Motorists travelling from Navan to Slane will travel the R162 to Kilberry, turn right onto the R163 and rejoin the N51 at Slane Castle. Residents and property-holders will be facilitated with local access throughout the closure period, the council said. However, Michael McBride, proprietor of the Topaz filling station at Harmanstown, said the road closure was "devastating" for his business and that he had decided to close from next Sunday for the duration of the road closure. His four staff will also be laid off for the five-week period. He said he was "snookered completely" and did not know if there was any comeback for him from the council, but did not think so. Mr McBride explained that 99.9 per cent of his business at the filling station is passing trade and that they had no choice but to close. "We have to close. It would cost us money to stay open. We are trying it out this week but will be closing from Sunday," he said. While the road had not actually been closed by Monday afternoon, Mr McBride said with announcements on radio about the closure, business was already well down. In recent months, there had been a stop/go system in place as part of the project and Mr McBride said there has been a "lot of disruption". The road was also closed for two days and his business was down by about 50 per cent on that occasion, as people avoided the road works. "It was bad enough the way the economy was, then the bad weather and now this. It's devastating for business," said Mr McBride.