‘Upgrade Ballymote road or deal with lorries on it’ says Cllr. Henry

Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Henry has said Sligo County Council must upgrade the Ballymote to Riverstown road or else do something to prevent large trucks using it as a shortcut.

It comes in the wake of the closure of the road when a SuperValu articulated lorry went off the road during the recent cold snap.

Cllr Henry who proposed a motion on the matter at the recent Ballymote-Tubbercurry Municipal District said that “this road is totally unsuitable for large trucks to be using to access Ballymote.

“I previously highlighted how the edges of the road are collapsing at Ardrea which still has to be repaired.

“The road also has a series of bad bends and it simply isn’t wide enough for a lorry to meet oncoming traffic. The SuperValu truck is the second time the road had to be closed in the past 3 months”.

He also informed the meeting that “this road is not on the winter programme so it won’t be salted or gritted but are we happy as a Council to not even attempt to divert these trucks down roads that are treated?”

“The big issue is that there’s no suitable access from Ballymote to the N4 and deliveries are using local roads as shortcuts as opposed to using the regional Ballymote-Sligo or Ballymote-Boyle road.

“Sat Navs will send you down these types of roads which is fine if you’re in a car.

“Either we upgrade this road to a standard capable of taking Lorries or else stop them using it through proper signage from the N4.

“The parents of the 90 children at Knockminna NS and the residents who use the road are fed up of road closures and being diverted onto other local roads” Cllr Henry said.

Meanwhile, Cllr. Henry has asked for Sligo County Council to examine the mandatory inclusion of broadband ducting as a condition for new planning applications within the County.