Councillors seek Ennistymon bridge repairs

NORTH Clare councillors are calling for the resurfacing of the bridge in Ennistymon after a woman fell and injured herself on her way from the town to mass recently.
“A 67-year-old woman fell there recently and was hurt. Furthermore, a car went over the edge of the road at Blake’s last year. I have had numerous complaints about the state of this part of the road,” Councillor Bill Slattery told The Clare Champion.
“Work on the road is part of the Blake’s Corner project and as such will not be completed for at least a year. However, it is a matter of urgency that the road be resurfaced from the church to Blake’s Corner, particularly before we enter another tourist season,” the Fine Gael councillor continued.
“I have called on the area engineer to resurface the road. I have also asked in the short term for the council to take away the two small side walls at Blake’s and Linnane’s and backfill the steps to bring them to road-surface level in order to make the road safer because cars are going over the steps there,” Councillor Slattery added.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Richard Nagle echoed his North Clare colleague’s concerns.
“Because it was thought work on the junction and moving the buildings would have proceeded by now, that section of road wasn’t improved or resurfaced when the rest was done. The belief was that it would have to be torn up again as part of the road’s realignment and that this was a waste of money. In hindsight, we would have been better to take the criticism and resurface the road and we wouldn’t now be in this situation,” Councillor Nagle explained.
“Everyone accepts the surface is in extremely poor repair and is hazardous for vehicles and particularly for pedestrians. I have had complaints concerning the state of the surface of the road. Every morning and evening you have several hundred kids attending the national and Scoil Mhuire crossing that bridge. On a daily basis you have people, many of them elderly, trying to get across the bridge to get to mass. I wish to see that section of road completed,” he added.
At a recent meeting of the North Clare councillors, the senior executive engineer at the Ennistymon Area Office, Stephen Lahiffe, told councillors he would contact the National Roads Authority with a view to the road being repaired. He added that if the NRA did not agree to carry out the work, it would be repaired as part of Clare County Council’s ordinary maintenance programme.