Local man Anthony O’Hagan has put together a video showcasing the dreadful state of the roads and footpaths in the town.
It’s certainly an eye opener to see how many are in such a bad state of repair and begs the question is there any value for our road taxes?
Check it out above.
It’s a New Year but the same old problems exist with roads around the town.
For too long many of them have been in a bad state of repair with the council none too eager to rectify the situation it seems.
Despite yesterday’s news that €1.4m is going to be spent repairing roads and footpaths throughout Dundalk and North Louth, the pothole problem is much greater.
Perhaps the biggest example of the council’s ignorance comes with the left-hand turn onto the Ramparts off the St Alphonsus Road, heading towards the Fire Station.
Despite being almost directly opposite the council’s headquarters, a pothole has remained intact for the best part of a year. This corner is very difficult to negotiate without hitting it and can lead to cars crossing the white line on the opposite site of the road in order to do so.
Of course, that’s not the only problem. Despite being one of the main routes into Dundalk Garda Station, the road at the top of Stapleton Place is becoming nothing short of a disgrace and one can almost liken it to driving on the moon.
Opposite Glen Gat House has been a problem for some time but since the single lane of traffic here was implemented to accommodate a virtually disused cycle lane, it simply cannot cope with the additional load.
Many estates too are also not without their problems and a pot hole similar to the one on the St Alphonsus Road has been in existence for some time at the entrance to Greenacres.
The number of floods in our estates of late suggest that bigger problems may lie ahead due to the council’s failure to both keep road surfaces in an adequate state and to clear drains.
We ask is it good enough? The likely answer is no!
Joan Martin of Louth County Council
Louth County Council have admitted that they are struggling to pay their outdoor staff due to a cutback in funding.
While many people have been complaining about the state of roads in the area, particularly on backroads, Director of Infrastructure at the local authority Joan Martin said that even paying the workers was proving difficult.
Responding to a query from Sinn Féin councillor Jim Loughran as to when potholes would be repaired on class three roads, Ms Martin said it was difficult to get work done.
She said grants from the government for road repairs were “hugely below” what they were last year and any work being carried out would have to be done so on a priority basis.
Louise Hanratty reports that someone has circled potholes along the Dundalk-Carrickmacross road with yellow paint and scrawled the letters ‘WHY?’ next to them. The roads aren’t in the best of shape at present and it will be interesting to see whether this sort of action sparks the council into action on repairing the problems along this stretch of road.
Source: Louise Hanratty (Twitter)
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