Road to nowhere? - Fears over funding of worst roads for deaths in Waterford commuter belt
'The worst road for deaths is the N25, the N24 is the third, and yet we get nothing'.
Once again, road safety and funding woes were the dominant topics at the May meeting of Piltown Municipal Council.
At the meeting in Ferrybank, councillors were unanimous on the vital need for substantial funding and supports to improve road safety.
In the last two months, it was announced that the N24 Waterford to Cahir Scheme was not going to progress beyond Phase 2. The latest report stated: "The close out of Phase 2 is imminent for this project. The scheme did not receive funding to move on to phase 3 in 2025. An allocation of €80,000 was received to close out reports and consultant’s fees for Phase 2."
The announcement has left public representatives bitterly disappointed, both in Waterford and South Kilkenny.
Councillor Pat Dunphy (Fine Gael) referred to the funding allocation as a 'disgrace'.
"We cannot let the N24 and N25 upgrades go. Lately, the funding given by the Department is a shock and a disgrace to the South East."
"We're after having too many accidents, too many near-misses, too much of this is going on.
"As I've said a number of times, the worst road for deaths is the N25, the N24 is the third, and yet we get nothing. There's something going on that's not right."
Cllr Dunphy re-iterated an earlier request to meet with the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and the Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien in the South East and to illuminate the urgent need for upgrades.
According to Councillor Fidelis O'Doherty (Fine Gael), since 1980, 84 people have died on 'that stretch of road'. She added: "That's not including near-misses, that's not including people seriously injured and carrying lifelong injuries."
Director of Services for Infrastructure at Kilkenny County Council Mary Mulholland wrote to the Minister and was informed that the delivery program for the N24 project will be "kept under review in 2026".
Senior Engineer John Tennyson informed the meeting about the current status of several projects under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS). Piltown was allocated €155,000 by the Department for the projects.
Mr Tennyson said: "We had seven schemes on our system as of January and the three schemes that got approval this year are Ballybrazil, Mooncoin, Deerpark in Mullinavat and High St, Ballytrasna in Mullinavat."
The N25 speed camera is currently being commissioned and is expected to be operational "imminently".
Council also heard about the recent environmental project, 'Team Up, Clean Up', whereby a contractor carried out a clean-up of roadside litter. According to Mr Tennyson: "Approximately 65 black bags of rubbish had to be removed."
