Some Cork roads the same 'as they were when donkeys and carts travelled on them'
The N71 at Barnageeha between Bantry and Ballydehob during wintry conditions last January. File picture: Andy Gibson.
Cork County Council has sought €32m from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to repair crumbling sections of three national secondary routes, some of which still have the structural integrity of “when they were routes that donkeys and carts travelled on 100 years ago".
The council’s director of roads Padraig Barrett is hopeful the money will be forthcoming but acknowledges that it will be dependent on the budget the government provides TII.
The situation has got so bad that on some of these major routes, speed restrictions have been put in place by the county council because the road surface is so poor.
Mr Barrett told the that three national secondary roads in particular need urgent attention.
The local authority has sought €12m to upgrade the N72 west of Ballymaquirke Cross, near Kanturk, to the Kerry ‘county bounds’ at Rathmore.
Mr Barrett described this as the worst of the three national secondary routes in the county.
He said that while a lot of the surface is gone, there are also parts of it “where the underlying structure is gone too".
The council is also seeking funding of €10m to upgrade the N72 from Fermoy to Co Waterford border town of Tallow.
A further €10m is also being sought to upgrade the N71 from Ballydehob to Glengarriffe in West Cork.
Mr Barrett said many of the country’s national secondary roads have been seriously neglected as investment hasn’t been forthcoming to bring them up to a proper standard.
“These routes are basically the same (core structure) as they were when donkeys and carts travelled on them more than 100 years ago. They need to be brought up to the standard needed for today’s traffic, including the large number of HGVs,” Mr Barrett said.
He said TII has accepted the need for money requested, but if it is not given the necessary budget by central government to meet national demands then some badly-needed projects will fall by the wayside.
He said if the council is met with the “worst case scenario we will be filling potholes for the rest of year". Independent councillor Patrick O’Donoghue raised the issue of the N71 between Fermoy and Tallow maintaining it was one of the worst sections of national secondary roads in the country.
Independent councillor William O’Leary was critical of the fact that huge money is being spent on a greenway running adjacent to that main road.
“This is being done at the same time as the road is crumbling away. We have to remember we are still a car dependent country. The road should be prioritised before anything else,” he said.
Mr O’Donoghue said that while the council is “hopeful” of getting funding for it and the other two sections of roads, there are no guarantees.
Fianna Fáil councillor Neilus Cotter said there are also issues with the state of the narrow section of the N72 west of Castletownroche. His party colleague councillor Pat Hayes said the council should lobby its local TDs to put pressure on the government to provide the necessary money to TII for road maintenance and upgrades and it was agreed to write to it.
The Mayor of County Cork Joe Carroll recently said council officials maintain it would cost nearly €1bn to bring all the roads in the region up to an acceptable standard.
