Move to axe Cork road resurfacing projects opposed 

Increasing costs and a heightened pace of delivery as well as a hike in the price of land acquisition are among the reasons for the decision to postpone road resurfacing projects in North and West Cork, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport has said.

Among the projects to be impacted are the proposed resurfacing of a section of the N71 Ballylickey to Dromkeal road near Bantry, the N72 Clonbanin to Meenskeha road, and Patrick St in Fermoy — which is also part of the N72.

This move has been met with fierce opposition from councillors in the impacted areas, as they have been campaigning for these road projects to be carried out for years.

In an email sent by a Cork County Council official to Danny Collins, the Independent Ireland councillor in West Cork, the official writes that a request came from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) via the Cork National Roads Office, requesting local authorities not to proceed to award any contracts for resurfacing projects.

Directive

This directive comes after Cork County Council confirmed earlier this year that roads in the county were only being resurfaced once every 50 years, compared to once in every 10 to 15 years in other counties.

This is because Cork has the largest road network in the country at over 12,000km, and councillors and officials alike have long complained that the county does not receive a fair allocation to carry out the repairs and resurfacing needed.

According to Fianna Fáil’s Frank O’Flynn, the physical road markings for the work had all been put in place and the plan had been to put the project — worth approximately €450,000 — out to tender this month with a view to carrying out the work at night during September and October to minimise disruption.

“I will continue to press this issue, and the council has written to the Department of Transport on the matter,” said Mr O’Flynn.

His party colleague in Kanturk/Mallow complained that the money had been allocated at the beginning of the year by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, and that this latest decision was a betrayal which would be resisted.

Greenways

Mr Collins blamed Transport Minister Eamon Ryan for the cut and suggested that the funding would instead be going to greenways.

In the statement from the Department of Transport, a spokesperson denied that the funding allocated to Cork County Council had been cut.

“There has been no reduction to the overall capital funding available for national roads in 2024, which was announced at the start of the year,” it stated.

“A number of new road projects are facing funding pressures in 2024 due to reasons including an increased pace of delivery and land acquisition costs, as well as inflation and increased cost of materials, which are higher than when the original estimates were calculated.

“This means the allocation will be spread on fewer projects than originally anticipated.

“This has resulted in the need to postpone some asset-renewal works to ensure that the delivery of major new roads projects can continue.

“This is particularly the case where existing contracts are in place.

“It is important to note that any postponement is temporary in nature.”

In a statement from TII, a spokesman said: “Unfortunately, TII cannot allocate funding to progress projects until funding is available.

“TII has made a request for additional funding to the Department of Transport.”

A query has been sent to the Department of Transport about when a likely decision about the availability of funding for such postponed Cork projects will be taken.