Carlow County Council is not holding its breath for funding from the NRA for repair work on Green Lane in the centre of Carlow town.
But local councillors are frustrated at the ‘shabby’ treatment they have received from the roads authority and are seeking a response to repeated requests for funding.
At this month’s council meeting, public representatives once again complained about the state of Green Lane and called for the NRA to provide funding for the resurfacing of the road.
Green Lane was formerly a main thoroughfare as part of the N9 Dublin to Kilkenny through Carlow town under the remit of the National Roads Authority.
But the road was downgraded earlier this year following the opening of the €200 million Carlow bypass, prompting fears among local councillors that the council would be left to foot the bill for the resurfacing of Green Lane.
Despite optimism from the local authority that the NRA would provide a funding package for works on the road following the hand over, council roads engineer Liam Fitzgerald seemed to indicate that such optimism had faded.
Mr Fitzgerald said the council had applied for funding in the order of €2 million for Green Lane but had had no response to date.
“The NRA is basically saying nothing, which generally means that they are saying no,” he said.
He said the council had received €400,000 for pavement overlay works throughout the town but he said that “just putting carpet over them will not have solved the problem”.
Cllr Rody Kelly suggested that the council write to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey over the ‘shabby way’ they were being treated by the NRA.
“They have billions to spend on the M50, digging it up and laying it down. But when it comes to a little road in Carlow they have left us high and dry. Or not so dry in this case,” Cllr Kelly said.
