The improvement works carried out by Mayo County Council as part of the Greenway project on the Newport Road out of the town have caused major headaches for residents on the right hand side of the road out of the town, according to Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne.
He raised the issue at the July meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District where he said that the people living on the right hand side of the road cannot get in or out of the houses, because the road has been narrowed to put in a wide footpath to accommodate the cycle and walkway. He called for a footpath to be installed on the other side of the road also so that the people living on that side could at least get in and out of their houses and it would stop cars driving up right outside their gates. Cllr Kilcoyne was supported in his calls by Independent councillor Frank Durcan and Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin as they demanded action to be taken in the next four weeks on the problem.
Cllr Kilcoyne told the Mayo Advertiser this week: “You can’t be doing that, a child in national school wouldn’t come up with it. The left hand side has this huge footpath now going out the road and the people on the right hand side can’t get in and out of their houses. If they are trying to get out on the road from their house and they hit one of the cars coming on the road they’ll be in the wrong.”
Cllr Kilcoyne went on to say: “The lack of consultation with the locals and the councillors is just not good enough. We’ve been asked to support the council in an application for funding to do the other side of the road, which we’ll do. But I want to see at least a temporary footpath put in place the far side which will at least stop the cars from coming in right on top of the people who live there. We’ve Enda Kenny building a motorway from Westport to Turlough and here we’re narrowing the road in on people on the Newport road.”
