The school bus that recently boycotted a local route is back on the road but the condition of Carlow’s rural roads remains a major concern for a cash-strapped council.
Concern was raised over the state of the county’s rural roads last month when a local school bus operated by Bus Eireann was pulled from its route because of the state of roads in the Old Leighlin area.
The local authority confirmed that measures were being taken on the affected roads but warned that the council were operating within a very tight financial situation.
At Carlow County Council’s December meeting, roads engineer Liam Fitzgerald confirmed that the school bus was back on the road after works were carried out on the Annagar Road.
But he warned that funding for the repair of rural roads would have to be closely examined in next month’s annual budget as the council is currently only able to implement stop-gap measures.
“We have done as much as is feasibly possible with the money that is available to us to renew as much as possible,” he told members.
Mr Fitzgerald said the council had appealed to both the Transport and Environment departments for funding to repair roads which had been severely damaged by heavy flooding in January and August of this year.
“The heavy flooding had significant implications on the roads around Old Leighlin. The roads were very badly damaged,” he said.
“We have had no satisfaction to date from the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment and I don’t believe we are going to get any money.
“There are going to have to be decisions in the context of next year’s roads programme because there are certainly some roads which will not be around for long if they are subject to much more adverse weather.”
The council has sent a report on this year’s flooding to both government departments detailing the extent of damage to the county’s roads and seeking further funding but the lack of response seems to suggest that no funding will be forthcoming.
