Deterioration of roads ‘is putting lives at risk’

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley has been urged to provide emergency funding to rural areas badly affected by the weather crisis in an attempt to prevent needless deaths across the country.

South Tipperary TD Tom Hayes said the “unprecedented devastation” caused to rural roads is putting people’s lives at risk.

The Fine Gael representative said national and secondary roads across rural areas have yet to be made safe for commuters.

Mr Hayes said the release of emergency funding was essential if serious road accidents are to be avoided.

“The levels of rain and flooding consistently over the last eight months have just never been seen before in this country, and now the snow and frost have made the situation worse,” he warned.

“Tuesday was the worst I have seen in my life in relation to the deterioration of the roads.

“It is so clear that local authorities will be unable to make any impact on the catastrophic state of the roads with the funding that they have been given.

“Every single road I have driven in the last two days is in a terrible state, and this is not limited to country roads – main roads are disintegrating before our eyes.

“The roads have simply been washed away in many instances, many of them are almost impassable and I am terribly worried about people’s safety,” he added.

The comment came after AA Roadwatch warned commuters to expect dangerous conditions on national and secondary roads throughout Munster, Connacht and the midlands as black ice, flooding and melting snow caused havoc on routes.

Conditions improved yesterday on the N69 from Tralee to Limerick, but remained poor between Askeaton and Rathkeale, while in Tipperary road damage on the N24 and between Cahir and Clonmel was attributed to the recent heavy snow and rainfall.

Snow and ice continued to hamper commuters on the Kilkenny Road in Wexford, with heavy flooding yet to recede along the Tullow to Castledermot Road in Carlow.

In Wicklow the Sally Fap and the Wicklow Gap were still impassible due to lying snow and ice.

Similar conditions also led to dangerous conditions in Longford (N4 and the N63), Westmeath (Mullingar to Athlone Road), Galway (M6 at Ballinasloe) and Roscommon (N5 near Strokestown).

While the National Roads Authority is not responsible for the upkeep of roads, a spokesperson said commuters should adhere to safety warnings on rural and national corridors.

He added that while most councils were continuing to treat badly affected roads, the heavy rain this week was causing difficulties as salt and grit have been washed away.