Sinn Féin vice president and Mid Ulster MLA Michelle O’Neill has called for the upgrade of the A5 road to be a "shared priority" between the Irish government and Stormont.
The call comes after a meeting between O’Neill and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week.
The Irish government had initially pledged to provide £400million towards the cost of the delayed project before the figure was reduced to £75million following the financial crisis which hit the country after 2008.
READ MORE: Campaign group set up by Tyrone GAA in support of A5 upgrade
The proposed road upgrade would see the entire road from Derry to Aughnacloy upgraded to a dual carriageway.
Ms O’Neill said: “I met Leo Varadkar last week and one of the issues I raised with him was the A5 road scheme which must be a shared priority for the government in Dublin and any new Executive which must be restored urgently.
“The Executive and the Irish government agreed back in 2007 to upgrade the entire A5 to dual carriageway from Aughnacloy, via Omagh and Strabane, to Derry.
“The scheme has been beset by several legal challenges since, and public inquiries.
“We have sadly seen fatalities on this very long stretch of road and families left completely devastated. This needs to be confronted and the scheme delivered to save lives.
“It is imperative that both the Irish government and the Executive, when re-established, remain fully committed to delivering and financing this critical infrastructure project, and that legal challenges are overcome."
The A5 Western Transport Corridor project has been the subject of three public inquiries and a succession of legal challenges which have halted its progress.
More than £90million has been spent by the Department for Infrastructrure on the project to date, without any construction work having begun, while the total estimated cost has ballooned to more than £1.6billion.
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