Mayo councillor claims 'squall of wind' would knock Achill bridges

A Mayo councillor has expressed amazement that an engineers report on three 'dangerous' bridges on Achill Island have declared them structurally sound.

Achill-based councillor Paul McNamara criticised a report on the three bridges along the R319 at the entrance of the village of Cashel on Achill Island which has been the scene of a number of traffic collisions in recent years.

A report on the bridges was commissioned by Mayo County Council and Cllr McNamara told the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District that he was informed by engineers that they were 'structurally sound'.

“For the life of me I can't fathom out how a structural engineer can sign off to say the three bridges in Achill are structurally perfect when a squall of wind will knock one of them. It beggars belief to think that a report can be produced to say those bridges are structurally sound,” he said.

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Cllr McNamara raised the matter during a discussion on the roadworks programme where he commented that regional roads like the R319 have not received the funding it deserves. 

The Fianna Fáil councillor has raised his concerns regarding the three bridges which are located within a short distance of each other on a number of occasions. He has complained that no funding has been made available to repair them and fears it will be the scene of a fatality due to the number of collisions at them.

In December, a senior official with Mayo County Council informed local councillors that the bridges were structurally sound but they were too narrow and a road realignment scheme may be the best course of action to resolve the issue.

Road markings at the approach to each of the bridges were painted last year to warn motorists to slow down but collisions continued especially during the busy summer months.

Westport councillor Brendan Mulroy voiced his support for Cllr McNamara saying that “anyone who travels that road will know that those three bridges are lethal and I would be amazed that we can get a health and safety pass.”