NRA admits many main roads ‘unsafe’

MANY of the country’s main roads are unsafe due to poor design and maintenance, the National Roads Authority has warned.

In an unprecedented criticism of the country’s road network, NRA chief executive Fred Barry said many national primary and secondary roads were simply “not up to standard”.

He claimed typical shortcomings in road design included the absence of signage at crossroads, pavement deficiencies, poor drainage, limited visibility, inferior road construction material and poor alignment.

“Many of our national roads do not come close to meeting current design and construction standards,” Mr Berry told a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport yesterday.

The Road Safety Authority has estimated that road conditions were the main contributory factor in 20 deaths on Irish roads between 2008 and 2009.

Although the NRA oversees major road projects on national primary and secondary roads, local authorities remain responsible for the maintenance and repair of the same routes.

“Although we are making steady progress, much of the unimproved, national road network is not up to standard,” said Mr Berry. “A lot of secondary roads have very significant deficiencies.”

He claimed it was “questionable” if local authorities were following the Department of Transport’s guidelines governing the management of roadworks.

However, Mr Berry acknowledged that one of the main problems was adequate funding and he recommended that county councils be given more resources and training.

He also expressed concern about the large number of state agencies that have various responsibilities for the country’s road network including the NRA, the RSA, the National Transport Authority, individual local authorities and the Department of Transport.

“It is easy to understand that there might well be confusion as to who is responsible for what,” he said.

Yesterday’s hearing was called as a result of pressure by the families of three victims of road accidents in Donegal, Kerry and Mayo which were believed to have been caused by poor road surfaces. Relatives of the victims have campaigned for years over the failure of local authorities to account for their poor record on road safety maintenance.

The RSA claims that poor road conditions are the principle cause of 3% of all fatal road collisions.

Mr Berry said the NRA would carry out 200 separate minor works schemes in 2011, almost all of which were concerned with road safety improvements.

RSA chief executive Noel Brett suggested a specialist body should be established to investigate road accidents similar to existing ones which examine rail, aviation and marine accidents.