'Roads in tatters' - Minister for Transport made aware of dire roads rural in Waterford
Councillors and Council engineers commended ground staff for their work in tackling road issues, however said that more funding is needed from government. Stock image
Correspondence has been made with Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, highlighting the lack of funding Waterford is receiving from government for roads.
Recently, Councillors in the Comeragh Municipality raised serious concerns regarding the state of rural roads in the locality.
The district’s five councillors signed a letter addressed to Minister O’Brien, seeking additional funding to address road issues.
Cathaoirleach of the Comeragh area, Cllr Seanie Power, said: “All our backroads are destroyed and I’m not exaggerating."
“Since the frost and snow they’re just in an awful state, particularly our our side of the county," he said.
"The road from Clonea-Power as far as Clonmel is in tatters," he added.
Waterford Council Chief Executive, Mr. Seán McKeown also sent a letter to the Minister.
Gabriel Hynes, Senior Engineer with Waterford Council, said that regular pothole repairs does not solve the underlying problems that the county’s road network is facing.
“Unfortunately if you’re repairing potholes on your road network, it means the actual road itself isn’t adequate, and that roads needs to be strengthening. There's one way of doing that, its macadam and concrete channels," he said.
“In essence, spending money on pothole repairs is probably a waste of money and really what we want to be doing is strengthening our road network with macadam.
“If we don’t get the money from the department, our road network is going to deteriorate. The bottom line is, if the Department want to ensure that we have a proper road network, our regional and local roads need to be up to a certain standard, and if we want to get them to that standard then they need to invest in them."
