West Cork road improvement delays are due to issue with ESB pole

Complications with the relocation of services and a utility pole due to “land issues” at a dangerous junction in West Cork have led to a delay in the completion of a road safety improvement scheme, councillors were told at a recent meeting of Cork County Council’s West Cork municipal district.

The issue was raised by Fine Gael councillor Caroline Cronin in a motion that asked for “this council [to] carry out urgent road improvements on the R593 — the Drimoleague to Skibbereen road from the junction at Beamish’s Mill in Drimoleague for a distance of 2km towards Skibbereen — as this road is in extremely poor condition and causes damage to vehicles”.

Ms Cronin said that road markings at the junction had almost completely worn away, leading to confusion for motorists — particularly those who are not familiar with the area.

POOR STATE

Ms Cronin said the road was in very poor state of repair, and cars approaching from Skibbereen were often going too fast round the sharp bend near the busy Centra shop.

Danny Collins, of Independent Ireland, said a pedestrian crossing had been approved for the junction, but nothing seemed to have been done since the motion for the crossing had been passed.

Area engineer Kevin Lynch said the junction is currently the subject of a low-cost improvement scheme, which is ongoing. He said the scheme included the crossing, and was currently being developed by the Road Design Office, and it was hoped to have it included in the 2026 roads programme.

He said there had been some delays due to issues with moving utilities, including an ESB pole, and conflicting interests regarding land issues.

• Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme