Part of a €26m allocation for Kildare's roads.
Some €8.8m in funding has been allocated for Athy’s Southern Distributor Route.
The funding is part of Kildare’s allocation of €26.6m for Local and Regional Roads for 2022.
The main construction contract is already underway with the official sod turning scheduled to take place in early March.
It also includes a total of €292,000 for safety improvement works on a number of important Kildare roads that have had safety concerns.
Fine Gael TD for Kildare South and Minister Martin Heydon commented:“Following the award of the main construction contract to BAM Civil to progress the Athy Ring Road in October, the allocation of funding for the Athy Road is further proof of this Governments commitment to this vital project for Athy.
"The people of Athy have waited decades for this road to go to construction, but now real construction will be visible and this much anticipated road can’t come quick enough for the people and businesses of Athy.
"It is essential that our road infrastructure is capable of meeting the demands of our expanding economy and is safe and secure for Kildare motorists”, he concluded.
A KFM listener has raised an issue with KFM, about the problems with the route at the Aughaboura section.
Donal Keane has claimed that the road has infringed on his estate Mansfield Grove.
Labour Cllr. Aoife Breslin spoke with Clem Ryan on Thursday's Kildare Today and said she has heard the objections from people within this estate.
"The rugby club have met the engineers several times and have agreed for conifer trees to be taken out," she said.
She said that 10,500 trees will be replanted.
She said the new road will free up Athy, which is currently a bottle neck.
"Nobody likes change," she insisted.
Cllr.Breslin and Donal Keane spoke with Clem Ryan on Thursday's Kildare Today:
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