Councillors furious as N71 upgrade ‘snubbed’

Councillors have expressed their anger at a presumed snub by the National Roads Authority over desperately needed funding for the upgrade of the only national secondary road servicing West Cork.

At a meeting of the council’s Western Division in Clonakilty, councillors were informed that there had been no reply to a letter they had written some time ago to the chief executive of the NRA about the state of the N71.

The issue was raised by Cllr Michael Collins (Ind) who wanted to know what was happening to funding for the road. “The fact that we didn’t even get a reply just shows how far down the list of priorities the road is,” Mr Collins said.

“We should request an urgent meeting with the minister for transport [Paschal Donohoe] on this.”

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) also expressed anger at the lack of a reply and claimed that even simple safety measures were not being addressed properly on the road.

“I’ve been asking for the last six months to put up a warning sign on a dangerous section of the road near Leap and I’m still not getting any answers about it. I’m concerned about this,” Mr Carroll said.

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) said he had requested the addition of rumble strips on both approaches to ‘chip van corner’ at Innishannon, but had not received a reply.

Cllr Pat Murphy (FF) said he was very disappointed that the NRA didn’t even acknowledge receipt of letter, while Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) described it as “completely unacceptable”.

“We need to meet somebody urgently on this as, in the autumn, there is going to be a four-to-five-year national roads programme announced. After that it will be somewhat set in stone,” Cllr Alan Coleman (FF) said.

The council’s acting director of roads and transportation services, Aidan Weir, said previous calls by councillors to have the N71 upgraded to a national primary route were highly unlikely to be acted upon by the NRA because of its rural nature.

Mr Weir, however, said he had no problem writing to Mr Donohoe about the need for funding the route.

He said the NRA is looking at ‘chip van corner’ and consulting with gardaí about possible new safety measures there. “We hope to have a report on that in September and [safety] signs have been approved for Leap and will be erected shortly.”

Meanwhile, councillors welcomed news that the Government has granted an extra €3m for road repairs in the county.

Cllr Noel O’Donovan said there should be some discretion about how this money is spent. He wanted some of it used for clearing roadside drains.

Mr Weir said the money can’t be spent on routine maintenance as it is specifically for road repairs. He said works on resurfacing Clonakilty’s main streets as part of the drainage scheme upgrade had been suspended until the end of August to aid the tourist season.

Mr Weir said work would continue on the construction of a new storm water pipeline and pump station through the old GAA field and a new pulp station at Croppy Quay. “It is expected that these works will not have any effect on traffic or business during this period,” Mr Weir said.