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Calls have been made for drainage works to be carried out on the R471 Sixmilebridge to Clonlara Road following “extremely dangerous” and “treacherous” conditions there this week during the cold snap.
Yvonne Stephen, a local resident, described the level of surface water on a stretch of this road approximately half a mile from the village as “criminal” and she urged the council to resolve the issue sooner rather than later.
“It’s been like this for the last 10 years. Water is constantly flowing down the hill. The council are aware of this. It is extremely dangerous. In February, four years ago a car skid going down this road. The man didn’t know the area and he went off the road. It has been pretty bad for the last week. Pot holes are erupting everywhere and the council came along last week and tarmaced over it,” she said.
Ms Stephen argued that laying tarmac isn’t the answer and believes drainage works have to be carried out. “It’s an absolute disgrace. It is criminal,” she said.
Senior executive engineer in the Shannon area, Eugene O’Shea, said he is not aware of any specific issue on this road but said “I’ll follow up on it and if there’s a problem there, we will fix it”.
Councillor PJ Ryan said there has been a problem along this stretch of road and also on the Gullet Road, where water flows from the higher land and said “realistically a major drainage scheme is needed”.
“Some repair work has been done but what is needed is a major undertaking. Drains would need to be put in and shores. It would be quite expensive and in the present climate the council are slow to do it. It is problematic and it does happen. I did hear a few scary stories this week of people driving onto it and getting caught with the ice. It is something we have mentioned before in the council. People were complaining that it was unsafe this week,” he said.
Councillor Ryan attributed the root of the problem to surface water coming off the land and said wet weather over the last few weeks hasn’t helped the situation.
