SIX roads in East Clare were upgraded this year under two different improvement schemes.
Roads located in Oatfield near Sixmilebridge and Carrownakilly near Killaloe were completed under the Community Improvement Scheme (CIS). Four roads were upgraded under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) this year, namely Cappabane in Scarriff, Bauroe in Feakle, Ballyminogue in Scarriff and Cappanapeasta.
An update had been sought by Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) at a meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District. He pointed to a “lack of funding” as the reason why more roads were not upgraded. “It is great to see people out there willing to put their hand in their pocket to try bring roads to a proper standard,” he commented.
Cooney felt the amount of work done on the LIS was “simply fantastic” but was slightly disappointed when it came to the roads upgraded under the CIS.
Cllr Pat Burke (FG) observed, “We spoke about it several times in the past, there is still quite a large number of people that would be interested in putting their hand in their pocket”. He believed Clare County Council could knock on the door of the Department of Transport to ensure more works were completed.
“People are starting to buy into the CIS, once the road is done it is done for a good few years. It would be nice to have a list that if funding came at the eleventh hour that there would be a number of roads available,” Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) remarked.
Senior executive engineer, Niamh Madden said that “originally” the Killaloe MD was scheduled to complete five roads between the two schemes but “at the eleventh hour” an extra road was included. “It is all about resources. We get the list from road design, this year we completed everything that has been in the criteria and met the budget in terms of what the Department has given us”.
