WORK is set to begin on the Douglas Road in Cork City as part of Irish Water's National Leakage Reduction Programme.

The vital water network improvement works are being undertaken by Ward and Burke Ltd on behalf of Irish Water and Cork City Council in order to ensure a more secure water supply for customers in the area.

The work will entail removing old pipes from the network.

The Douglas Road will be fully closed at nighttime in order to complete the works, which are taking place from Monday, February 28 until Saturday, March 5.

"Due to the location of the existing water mains and requirement to cross both lanes with excavations, closure of one lane to maintain traffic flows is unfeasible and therefore a full road closure is required," Irish Water said.

The road will be closed from the bottom of the Southern Road at the Infirmary Road/Old Blackrock Road/Langford Row Junction to the junction of the Douglas Road and Tramore Lawn. 

The recommended vehicular diversion will be via Langford Row, Summerhill South, Evergreen Road, South Douglas road to the turn for Tramore Lawn where traffic will re-join the Douglas Road. 

The Douglas Road will be fully open outside of working hours.

"Irish Water understands that road works can be inconvenient, but our crews will make every effort to minimise disruption to local communities as we continue to improve the water supply in Cork," Irish Water said.

"Fixing leaks can be complicated but we are making progress."

Irish Water invested over €500m between 2017 and 2021 to reduce leakage and replace old pipes on the public water network around the country. 

In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46% and by the end of 2021, it was reduced to 38%.

Irish Water’s customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact Irish Water on Twitter.

For updates see the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website.