Potholes, like these one on the Lankhill Road in Westport, have made driving in the area very difficult of late.
Councillors told funding increased for Westport area roads
Áine Ryan
THE ALLOCATION for the Westport area’s roads is up on last year, councillors were told at a meeting yesterday (Monday). County Council Senior Engineer, Padraic Walsh told the Electoral Area Meeting that the allocation for national and non-national roads was considerably up on last year’, with the pavement overlay grant increased by €8 million to €19 million.
Mr Walsh also said there was good news regarding the N59, with the first phase of the Newport to Mulranny upgrade due to start later this year. It encompasses three kilometers of roadway on the Westport side of Newport, and involves a grant of €2.6 million.
Regarding the non-national roads, Mr Walsh said that funding for strengthening works had come in a block grant due to the severity and impact of the cold spell and bad weather.
“This will allow us to prioritise the worst affected roads and work on a road-works schedule,” Mr Walsh said.
Responding Cllr Johnny O’Malley said the roads were in ‘a horrible condition’.
The list of such roads was fast increasing as he travelled around canvassing for the General Election, he said.
“The Derrygorman Road is not safe for ducks to walk across … There is going to have to be some sort of emergency plan put in place to ensure that people can travel in safety – never mind in comfort – on these roads’, he said.
Concurring, Cllr Peter Flynn said the public did understand the pressures caused by the severity of the winter.
“But when there are cutbacks in the maintenance programmes, we are looking at the bad old times. We need to start thinking differently about servicing these roads. Many of these areas are also densely populated where people have paid their levies … The reality may entail additional workloads during the winter months and cutting back during the summer,” Cllr Flynn said.
He welcomed the news about the section of the N59 near Newport .
Chairman, Cllr Austin Francis O’Malley observed that ‘the long and the short of it was that the cutback in capital funding was the nub of the problem’.
“People come to me and say they are paying car tax but ask how much of that is being put into the coffers for Mayo’s roads, rather than into central funding. They say: ‘We’re paying the same car tax as the people in Dublin 4’.”
Responding, Padraic Walsh said the priority was to get the road-works scheme in place.
