Speed on past school
ISSUE Thursday NO. 83 February 23rd, 2017
Delivering to more homes in Co Wexford than any other newspaper
A reduction in the speed limit from 80kph cannot be provided outside a rural North Wexford Primary School------------because there are not enough houses around it. Parents of children in Ballythomas National School have been campaigning for years to secure a reduction to 60kph on the road outside the school but their efforts are doomed
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to fail. This week the Council’s road safety officer Daivd Codd revealed to councillors in Gorey that under guidelines such limits could only be imposed in rural areas where there was a cluster of houses. Cllr John Hegarty said there would never be sufficient houses in the area to meet the guidelines so the limit would never be changed.
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Council admits roadworks on key route have gone on ‘forever’ Second Wexford bridge will be required The man in charge of the county’s roads has said that people who feel roadworks on one of the county’s busiest routes have gone on forever are correct---------- because they have. Director of Services Eamonn Hore also revealed that the cost of upgrading the Wexford town to Castlebridge road, which is used by an average of 10,000 vehicles per day, has spiralled from its original estimate for a variety of reasons. Back in early 2015 when the work started it was anticipated that a government grant of €500,000 in addition to various development levies would have been sufficient to do the upgrade works. Now more than two years later the eventual cost is likely to be
several million euro and Mr Hore said that in the long term, given the volume of traffic using the route in addition to residential and business expansion which is anticipated in the area, a second bridge will eventually be required to deal with congestion. The big jump is costs means that much of the funding for the work has had to come from the Council’s own resources. The initial problem arose when work started on the road outside the new Audi garage. The road was found to be in such a poor condition that a complete rebuild was required, work which eat up the entire budget for the remainder of the job. It was also decided as part of
the plan to completely future proof the road with all utilities and full drainage provided as part of the project in addition to new footpaths and this has also increased the cost. But Mr Hore said it was a case of deciding to do a comprehensive job on a very important route which would leave everything in place for the future. Explaining that the Ardcavan road was the most important of the main routes in to Wexford town he said sixty seven businesses currently operated in the area and more were planned while an application for a residential development was also in place. The work had been delayed by various problems and the Council also had to deal with a
barrage of criticisms and complains on an ongoing basis about the scale and extent of what was proposed. He made his comments as part of a presentation to Wexford Borough District Councillors who had sought a full update on the progress of the project and details of what it would eventually cost. The work is now expected to be completed later this year and a final cost will be available next month but with the first section of the road using up all the cash provide for the overall project by the government the job is expected to have consumed a large amount of the Council’s own resources which would otherwise have been earmarked for rural roads.
A recent visit to Dail Eireann arranged by Minister Paul Kehoe proved a big hit with locals. Such was the interest in the outing, with over one hundred participating, that two full size buses had to be hired. The visit included a tour of the chambers and the Ministers Offices in the Department of the Taoiseach. Lunch was provided in the Dail restaurant and almost enjoyable day was had by all. Even two buses were not enough to take all those who expressed an interest and a further trip will be necessary in the near future. Pictured are those who enjoyed the trip with Minister Kehoe.
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