Neill O’Neill
THE new Michael Davitt Bridge linking Achill Island to the mainland will be completed by the end of October. The bridge itself is scheduled to be open to traffic from mid-September, but it will take five weeks to clear the temporary causeway that was built to facilitate traffic during the construction phase. Works on the bridge began last September on what was supposed to be an eight-month project.
It is not yet known if the new bridge will be completed within budget.
Speaking at a meeting of the Belmullet Electoral Area Committee last week, Mr Michael Mongan, Senior Engineer with Mayo County Council, said the new deck on the bridge should be welded in place by the end of this week, and the new architecture of the bridge will follow shortly. He added that the one-way road system in place on the causeway will be monitored over the busy summer period for adverse effects on traffic and the businesses on either side of the bridge.
Cllr Michéal McNamara asked if traffic could be better regulated on weekends. He said that outside the SuperValu store and the church are particular traffic blackspots as a result of the build-up of traffic on the bridge. He also called for a perspex screen to be placed on the railing on the southern side of the bridge, to prevent sea spray coming over the side.
His colleague, Cllr Michael Holmes, expressed his view that the traffic situation around the bridge was working better than he ever thought it might, while Cllr Gerry Coyle reinforced this opinion by simply stating ‘you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs’
