Newport's Georges Street project delayed until the New Year

WORKS to improve the safety of pedestrians along Georges Street in Newport is unlikely to begin until early in the New Year.

In July, councillors were informed that 'all going well' work on a new 200 metre long footpath to be developed along the left hand side of Georges Street would begin in September and take four weeks to complete.

However, work has not started on the project and local councillors were informed that the project fell down the list of priorities and has yet to go to tender.

Paul Dolan, the Head of Roads in Mayo County Council told the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District that while progress on the project is slow, he pledged that it will go ahead in the new year.

“We only have limited staff and whatever schemes get higher up the priority we have to work on and the R320 in Swinford got priority recently due to fatalities on the N5,” he said, adding that a feasibility report on the Georges Street project has gone to Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

“We will be going to tender in November and have a contractor appointed at the end of November on Georges Street. Whether we start in November it is not a great time of year to start. We will see, it may be after Christmas and the new year before we start on site. It is making progress, it may be slow but it is making progress and we will get an allocation to finish it,” he said.

Cllr Brendan Mulroy told the meeting that the lack of work had been noticed by the people of Newport and people want to see the work being done.

“People want to see it. The people of Newport need to see work in Newport because they are beginning to disbelieve at this stage that anything will happen. We need to be on the ground in Newport because in fairness they have had a lot of false dawns and I know it is not your fault. That is the reality of the situation,” he said.

Route selection delay

MEANWHILE, the route selection stage for the Greenway through Newport has been delayed by a 'month or two'. Pat Staunton, Senior Executive Engineer with the Mayo National Roads Design Office said that they had been hoping that the preferred route for the Greenway would have gone on public display but issues around the topography and the gradient around the town has delayed the project. He said they were having discussions with the TII regarding this and the matter was further complicated by environmental issues.

“We hope to be out with a preferred route by the end of the year and go to planning there after,” he said.

Mr Staunton also told the meeting that they hope to go to tender in the next couple of weeks for the construction of the 5km long Newport to Derradda road project which forms part of the larger N59 Westport to Mulranny Road Scheme.

He explained they are tying up loose ends before going to tender and they expect the construction phase to begin in 2024. He said the road to Mulranny will be completed in three stages with the Newport to Derradda section followed by a section to Newfield and the last section to be completed will be from Newfield to Mulranny. He informed the meeting that the whole project is expected to be completed by 2030.