There are roads in Connemara that will be rendered “unusable” by next year if funding is not provided soon for urgent repairs, that is according to county councillor Eileen Mannion.
“Many roads in Connemara are in a totally unacceptable standard and unless extra funding is provided to Galway County Council by the Department of Transport to carry out repair works many roads will be unusable,” said Cllr Mannion who is calling on Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, to provide urgent funding for Connemara roads.
Cuts in the roads budget over the last two years and the impact of severe winter weather have led to many roads in Connemara being left in very poor condition, according to Cllr Mannion, who added that “extra funding is urgently required to bring the roads up to an acceptable standard”.
“There are roads in every area of Connemara that require funding to bring them up to an acceptable standard. If the roads continue to be neglected and we have another severe winter many roads will not be usable by this time next year. While there is funding available to carry out some work the amount allocated falls well short of what is required.”
Cllr Mannion continued: “The regional and local roads have been neglected for years while major funding went into the major inter-urban roads. Funds should now be diverted from the major projects to bring local and regional roads up to an acceptable standard.”
