Slow drive protest taking place on busy Cork road 

CALLS for an upgrade of Cork’s busy N73 are becoming louder, with the issue raised in the Dáil and Cork County Council in recent days, and a slow drive protest organised for this morning between Mitchelstown and Mallow.

The protest today has been organised by Independent Councillor Frank Roche, who said trucks will travel the road in a slow convoy in a bid to highlight the need for upgrades on the road infrastructure in the area.

An allocated €1.5m from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) which was promised for improvements to the road was recently pulled back due to funding deficits. Cork County Council had prepared tender documents for the project and liaised with consultants. However, councillors in north Cork were advised that TII had said they cannot currently approve the funding due to financial uncertainty.

Mr Roche said road users want to see the road widened.

He said the protest will demonstrate how on some parts of the N73, two trucks cannot pass by each other, and one is forced to pull-in off the road.

“We are not looking for a motorway,” Mr Roche said, “We need the road widened and the surfaces improved.”

A bus will take a cohort of concerned stakeholders to Dublin to meet with politicians and raise awareness of the problem.

On Tuesday night, North Cork TD Seán Sherlock sought a debate on the road safety and funding concerns on the N73 in the Dáil, saying that it makes sense to progress the N73 road tender now.

“The road is an important road because it is a national secondary role,” said Mr Sherlock in the debate.

“It’s been devoid and starved of investment for decades, I would say at this stage… I’m pleading with the Government to not take this off the agenda and to allow it to go to the next stage.”