City Councillor Declan McDonnell has urged Galway City Council to draw up a further five-year plan to tackle dangerous ageing roads and footpaths in the older residential areas of Galway.
The Independent Councillor paid tribute to the Council for the work carried out in the Old Mervue area over recent years, which he said had transformed several neighbourhoods and made them safer for pedestrians.
“I was happy that the City Manager took on board my suggestion some years back to develop a programme, under which the works in Old Mervue were carried out, towards which I contributed €50,000 of my Local Improvement Scheme funds and supported the inclusion of more funding in each of the last four years of Council budgets.
He said that the work has made a real difference in an area where most of the roads and footpaths were 70 years old and the bumps and cracks represented a real fall danger to older people in particular.
“What I would like to see now is a further five-year plan drawn up to carry out a similar programme of improvements and upgrades to footpaths and roads in other areas on this side of the city including Monivea Park, Renmore, Riverside, Castle Park and New Mervue — as well as other long established areas elsewhere in the city such as The Claddagh, Bohermore and Shantallam” said Cllr McDonnell.
“This should be followed in subsequent years by a rolling series of similar five-year programmes so that every area of the city that needs this work done will benefit, and we don’t ever end up in a situation again where this infrastructure is untouched for half a century and more.”
Cllr McDonnell paid tribute to Noel O Ceallaigh, Executive Engineer in the City Council’s Roads and Transportation Department, and his team, who he said had done an excellent job in the Old Mervue area.
