History
1985: Molloy Pollock Punch Consulting Engineers produced an initial Feasibility Report on the Slane Bridge for Meath County Council and identified options to address the inadequacies at the River Boyne bridge crossing. One option proposed was a bypass to the east of the village which was identified as ‘the ideal scheme for the location and the one offering the full long term solution not only for the problems at Slane Bridge but the Slane town itself’.
January 1990: Following further visual assessments and site investigations Meath County Council published a Feasibility Report that they carried out themselves. The report concluded that a bypass road was both a feasible and desirable solution. Three possible options were identified, two to the west and one to the east. Following examination it was concluded that the eastern route was the most suitable as it was felt that the route would not impact visually on the village as it was 1km away and land severance would be minimised.
May 2001: By 2001 none of the recommended measures had been implemented and following further fatal accidents Meath County Council commissioned Roughan and O’ Donovan – Maunsell Alliance to conduct a review of the safety and traffic problems associated with Slane Bridge. In May 2001 their report titled ‘Slane Bridge Safety Measures Study’ was issued which addressed remedial measures in three categories short-, medium- and long-term. The long-term solution proposed recommended again the Molloy Pollock Punch bypass route as being the most effective. The recommended short-term measures were implemented in 2001 and 2002 and comprised segregation of HCVs from other vehicles on the southbound approach to the bridge and the introduction of traffic lights at the N2/N51 junction in Slane village. 
September 2002: Meath National Roads Design Office (NRDO) published a Phase 1 Constraints Study Report for a bypass of Slane village. This report identified that routes to the west of the village were not viable because they did not compare favourably with routes to the east of the village on economic, environmental and engineering terms.
June 2005: Meath County Council published the Phase 2 Route Selection Report which assessed four options and a number of variations for an eastern bypass of the village. A Preferred Route identified as B1-B-B2 was recommended for the bypass of Slane.
December 2009: Meath County Council submitted the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the N2 Slane bypass, which had been prepared by Roughan and O’ Donovan Consulting Engineers, to An Bord Pleanála (ABP).
Feb – April 2011: The Oral Hearing was held for the N2 Slane Bypass. 
March 2012: An Bord Pleanála refused permission for the N2 Slane Bypass. In citing its reasons and consideration for refusal, the Board stated, amongst other matters, that having regard to the importance and sensitivity of the location, a bypass of the type proposed could only be considered where it had been demonstrated that no appropriate alternative was available. The Board indicated that it was not satisfied that alternatives to the bypass were adequately explored. 
Aug 2012 – July 2015: Following ABP’s decision regarding the N2 Slane Bypass, Meath County Council had a number of studies carried out with respect to HCV traffic between August 2012 and July 2015.
September 2015: The Government published their Capital Plan Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016 – 2021 which outlines the Government’s €42 billion framework for infrastructure investment in Ireland over the period 2016 to 2021. The delivery of the N2 Slane Bypass is explicitly provided for within the plan which states that ‘subject to planning permission a number of schemes targeted at removing bottlenecks including the Slane Bypass will commence in the lifetime of the Government plan’. 
February 2017: Meath County Council appointed RPS Consulting Engineers to start afresh in the progression of the appraisal of traffic management alternatives and with the development of route options for a bypass of Slane village through Phases 1, 2, 3 and 4 of TII’s Project Management Guidelines (2010) and TII’s Project Appraisal Guidelines (2016).
April 2017: Phase 1 Concept and Feasibility complete
May 2017 Commencement of Phase 2 – Options Selection 
July 2017: First Public Consultation on Constraints Study
November 2017: Second Public Consultation on Scheme Options and Traffic Management Option
November 2019: Third Public Consultation on Emerging Preferred Option
May 2020: Options Selection Report published concluding Phase 2 – Options Selection
May 2020: Commencement of Phase 3 – Design and Environmental Evaluation
April 2021: Decision made to include the design of the public realm improvements in Slane village as part of the N2 Slane Bypass Scheme. The proposed scheme is now titled the "N2 Slane Bypass and Public Realm Enhancement Scheme".