KILKEE’s road network needs a “ball of money” to secure improvements.
Questioning of the plans Clare County Council have to upgrade the road network in Kilkee was voiced by Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) who flagged, “despite numerous motions since 2019 it is now imperative that a special fund be set aside to complete the work”.
Discussions are ongoing between the local authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on the upgrading of the Minister’s Place, senior executive engineer Alan Kennelly stated. Design works are “at an advanced stage” but a revised design may require an upgrade of Nolan’s Junction also known as Jimmy’s Hill.
Design works at the Carrigaholt Rd/Strand Line Junction near the Bandstand and waterfront building was enabled through Active Travel funding. Kennelly confirmed that both O’Connell St (2023) and Church Rd (2024) are on the three year roadworks plan. “Roads within the town boundary of Kilkee are resurfaced by way of a surface overlay which is a relatively expensive process. If other roads in Kilkee require resurfacing in the 2022-2024 time frame an alternative source of funding will be required,” he added.
Speaking at a sitting of the West Clare MD, Cllr Keating commented, “Kilkee is very dear to our hearts because of the volume of people that come to spend their money during the summer months and the weekends off-season. No doubt we need ball of money to make it attractive to everybody, locals and visitors alike”. He acknowledged the work done to date, “I will leave it in your hands to get the ball of money,” he told Council officials.
Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) also emphasized the need for works to take place, “The road from roundabout past the school is probably the worst section of road in West Clare and that is a fair achievement”. By addressing manholes and covers, a lot of the issues would be sorted, he maintained. “To me the surface itself is terrible, the manhole covers are an accident waiting to happen”.
Equipment has been purchased for the pedestrian crossing, Kennelly replied. “It would be nice to get a ball of money to go at it. A lot to be done, we could spend it all in Kilkee for the next five years and do nowhere else”.
Making a special case for Kilkee was touted by Keating. “It is on the Wild Atlantic Way, it is the main route to Carrigaholt and Loop Head, there could could be a special case for funding”. Kennelly responded, “I’d welcome anyone at all making a case for Kilkee, if I get the money I will spend it”.
Elsewhere, Cllr Keating asked for “necessary improvements” to be carried out with “part of the Mountrivers to Shragh road is in danger of subsiding”.
Kennelly explained that the L-2032 is “constructed on bog rampart. The road foundations are peat, and the level of the road surface is higher than the level of the surrounding lands, as the peat had been cut from those lands. The road is constructed on the remaining ribbon of uncut peat. Maintaining the road surface on these ‘bog roads’ is notoriously challenging. There are a number of depressions in the road surface and I will talk to the local roads overseer with a view to having these filled as an interim measure”. 900 linear metres of this road are included in the three year roadworks plan.
