TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IRELAND (TII) are to receive formal communication from Clare County Council advising them the N67 Kilrush to Ennis Road “is a danger to life”.
On Tuesday, elected members of the West Clare Municipal District agreed to write to TII to issue a word of warning that “the N67 Kilrush to Ennis road is a danger to life”.
In a proposal by Cllr Ian Lynch (IND), immediate funds were sought for urgent repairs and a three-year rolling plan “on the maintenance that the TII intended to complete to ensure the major artery to West Clare in brought up to and maintained to an acceptable manor”.
John O’Malley, senior executive officer in the West Clare MD said they would write to TII on the matter. “The Municipal District have highlighted defects on the N68 to the TII through Clare County Council’s Road Section and will continue to put forward additional requests as they occur,” he said. Staff in the MD accept the need for “major upgrades”.
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Cllr Lynch admitted, “I don’t know how many times we have to write down motions on this, it is worded strongly. There is no doubt it is dangerous. I travel the roads three times a day, I’ve seen buses swerving, it twenty years this May when a school bus turned over in Meath and five of them passed away, I don’t want that to happen again”.
All of the section of road by Kilmihil is “tearing away”, he flagged with trucks swerving to avoid the poor sections of road. On Tuesday, a section of the road in Lissycasey flooded for the first time in his memory. “We need to put them on formal notice that someone is going to get injured on this road”.
Any strategic development of West Clare is dependent on an access and a transport network, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) flagged. “We need to have a priority list in the county and start somewhere, from a political and pressure perspective it has to be seen with seriousness coming from the county and we need to pursue it from our own party and others to push it on”.
New sections of the road are flooding, Cllr Dinny Gould (IND) highlighted. “I never saw it flood before, there was an accident this morning with the fire brigade out there, something has to be done”.
Striking an optimistic note on the provision of funding and subsequent improvements was Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG), “I travel it quite a bit and I’m sure you all do, if a new engineer comes to the area, I always ask them do they travel N68, I’d say there’s good days ahead, the thing to do is spend it on that road”.
Frustration with the TII was voiced by Cllr Michael Shannon (FF), “I am deeply frustrated with TII that we are second from bottom with funding for this year”.
