People requesting the Galway County Council carry out road repairs are being told it will be after Christmas before the works are carried out, according to Independent councillor Jim Cuddy.
Cllr Cuddy is now questioning the county council’s ability to carry out essential maintenance on roads and he has called for urgent action by the county manager Martina Moloney on this issue.
“Some roads that are in need of urgent repair have been reported to the county council for over a month and still nothing has been done,” he said. “What I would like to know is, what people are supposed to do in the meantime if they damage their car or get injured as a result of substandard road conditions.”
Cllr Cuddy said one area of concern is the road outside Centra in Claregalway, which floods regularly.
“When the flood comes up on this stretch of road, cars have to veer across the white line into incoming traffic to avoid the flood, which will inevitably result in accidents,” he said.
According to Cllr Cuddy, the explanation give by the council is that it does not have the staff or the resources to carry out the works. Cllr Cuddy acknowledged this by saying: “Work cannot be completed, as staff numbers in the Oranmore Electoral Area have deliberately been reduced.”
As a result he has called on Ms Moloney to seek funding from the Department of Transport for the repairs.
He has also put down a motion for the next county council meeting of Galway asking who would be responsible, in the event of injury or car damage, if the council does not carry out necessary repairs on roads which have been notified to them.
“I hope this motion will spur the council into action on this very serious issue,” he said. “The manager needs to take urgent action on this serious issue and not wait until someone is injured.”
