The Port Access Northern Cross Route will eventually link the M1 with Drogheda Port and open up land for up to 5,000 new houses to be built.

The first phase includes a new 2km road, and a further 2km of upgraded road, linking the Rosehall Roundabout to the new Ballymakenny Road Roundabout, and will facilitate the construction of around 1,300 homes.

The road will be opened to traffic in the coming days.

The goal of the new route is to enable Drogheda, which is now the largest town in Ireland, to grow sustainably and produce homes.

In collaboration with the Housing Infrastructure Services Company (HISCO), two housing developers (Castlethorn and Ballymakenny Developments Ltd.), Louth County Council, and HISCO, the Port Access Northern Cross Route is being constructed.

Hisco is a business organisation that offers the necessary infrastructure for housing constructions.

Following the road's official opening, Louth County Council Cathaoirleach Paula Butterly called it a “hugely positive day for Louth and the northeast region and noted that the road is a critical piece of infrastructure that will ensure better connectivity for north Drogheda and allow for thousands of homes to be built and occupied.”

The key to the road, according to CEO of Louth County Council Joan Martin, is making room for Drogheda's population.

“Even Phase 1 of the road has opened vast areas of land in north Drogheda, and we can see the first of thousands of homes already built or under construction,” she stated.

By year's end, around 300 families will have occupied their new residences in Ballymakenny Park, according to Joe O'Reilly of Castlethorn.