Council ‘fortunate to get bypass funds but maintenance will suffer’

A local authority conceded it was “fortunate” to have already received the bulk of funding for a county town’s bypass road, in advance of continuing government cutbacks on road maintenance.

The 13.5km Tralee bypass is due to be completed by Apr 2013. However, Kerry County Council is likely to face difficulties in maintaining its national roads network this year.

Senior roads engineer Ger MacNamara told yesterday’s county council meeting that Kerry had received €25m for the long-awaited Tralee bypass, at a time of cutbacks in overall national funding.