Resurfaced street dug up again to expose manholes

CONTRACTORS who recently resurfaced a busy street in Kilkenny have had to dig it up again because they covered the manholes.

Local businesses have expressed their anger at the return of the contractors to expose the manhole covers on Patrick Street.

One businessman said it would have been less costly to take account of the manholes while they were laying the tarmac, rather than coming back again with noisy jackhammers to expose them.

However, the local authority has defended the latest round of work, saying the practice is standard.

“It involves the readjustment of the manholes as levels have changed due to the resurfacing of the road,” said council’s director of services John McCormac.

But local businesses are not happy. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw drilling going on this week. I knew nothing about this work. We are customers of the local authority and we should have been told these works were going on,” said businessman and managing director of Three Rivers Oil, Gerard Boylan.