No update on road scheme applications

DESPITE receiving over €2.7 million extra in funding for local and regional roads from the Department of Transport and Tourism for 2020, there are still no details on successful applications under the Local Improvement Scheme.

The topic was raised at Monday’s full council meeting when Cllr Brendan Cronin asked when will councillors, and the people, be informed of successful and failed submissions for road repairs.

Over 800 submissions were received by KCC since April 2017, when the scheme first opened, but no applicant has, as yet, received notification on whether their application for essential repairs will be given the green light.

“I have to relate what is being related to me by the public. I appreciate there is a significant body of work, but I’ve put down several motions on this, people are angry,” Cllr Cronin said.

Council management rejected any suggestion of tardiness, saying its engineers had inspected all roads and that this was no ‘desk-job’. When asked about the cost involved, management said costings for the top 50 roads would be made known once funding was available and that councillors would be informed by e-mail.

“No funding has been allocated yet by the Department, so it can’t be known how many roads will be done this year,” the local authority said. “Over 800 applicants had to be assessed; it wasn’t just a case of going out looking at a road. There is a strict criteria involved.”

Management did not have a final figure for how many road applications were successful.