Local roads damaged by recent flood waters are to receive a €2 million revamp, councillors were informed at this month’s meeting of the Athlone Municipal District.
Director of services, Barry Kehoe, told councillors that the funding being invested still falls short of the council’s estimation of €3 million needed to fix all the roads damaged in the locality between December and January. Mr Kehoe informed councillors that a further allocation from the Department of Transport may be made available later this month so that additional work can be undertaken on the remaining roads.
Those roads where the work is to be undertaken immediately due to their poor state, have been prioritised by the council. Some of the biggest beneficiaries of this funding include the stretch of road between Carrickobreen and Ballygowlan which has been allocated €306,000; the Golden Island road which has been allocated €299,498; and Deerpark Road which has been allocated €131,495.
The funding was warmly welcomed by Fine Gael’s John Dolan who referred to it as “local government working at its best”, while Sinn Féin Cllr Paul Hogan commended the council executive for taking on board the concerns brought to them by councillors in drafting the programme of works.
Added to this, a further €62,000 derived from property tax payments and council revenue is to be spent on restoring cul-de-sacs in the areas of Tang and Shancurragh. Further work on cul-de-sacs in the district will take place in the future as funding becomes available.
Local Independent Cllr Ailish McManus, has welcomed funding for road resurfacing works at Shancurragh: “I’m delighted that this cul-de-sac road at Shancurragh, Coosan, was included under additional funding provided by Athlone Municipal District Roads Programme,” she said. “Funding of €24,200 which is to be used for resurfacing in this area will have a significant impact on the quality of the road.”
