Will HGVs dig up Duleek’s new look?
Call made to ban trucks from village
FEARS have been expressed that the vast sums spent on revamping the upper main street area in Duleek will be a waste of money if HGVs are allowed to continue to trundle through the village.
Over €100,000 was spent on the improvements close to the church, with speed ramps and new systems put in place.
However, local councillor Stephen McKee says it could all be destroyed.
Addressing last week’s area council meeting, he said the improvements had been broadly welcomed but with all the heavy trucks, the street could be ‘ dug up again inside five years’.
He said local deliveries were fine, but there were too many trucks going through Duleek who had no business to be near the place.
He said a HGV ban could be brought in without much cost.
Cllr Eimear Ferguson agreed that the new works were good but the trucks were causing ‘mayhem.’
She said she had seen one carrying a JCB and it just blocked everything up.
‘Also, what damage is being done to buildings on the main street that we don’t know about. You can feel the ground shaking,’ she added.
Cllr Paddy Meade agreed that if a HGV ban could be implemented he’d agree with it. He said with various planning permissions and with places such as Indaver, Irish Cement and Roadstone in the locality, ‘ there could be 10 times the amount of lorries going through Duleek this time next year.’
Dara McGowan, Director of Services, said that where the council had HGV bans, in Kells, Enfield and Dunshaughlin, there were alternative routes to use but for Duleek it would mean an 11km to 13km detour for vehicles and that wasn’t practical.
‘We’d have to look at trucks delivering into the village as well if there was a HGV ban. With the new layout now, the junctions are tight and the raised tables slow traffic. A HGV ban is not something we’d push to introduce.’
Cllrs felt that it should be part of planning regulations that trucks should not be allowed to use the village if travelling to local sites such as Indaver and Cement. Mr McGowan said he could check to see if there were conditions and if not, the council could write to them to ask if they could advise drivers to stay out of the village.