RESURFACING SOUGHT FOR ‘DIABOLICAL’ PATRICK STREET

A number of issues with roads across the region were raised at this week’s Northern Committee meeting, including the need to resurface Patrick Street in Fermoy.

The need for resurfacing was raised by local councillor Frank O’Flynn, who described the road surface as ‘diabolical’.

“If you’re driving fast, you’d think you’re in a third world country and I would ask that something would be done about it. I know we’ve brought this up now at numerous meetings, it should be done,” Cllr O’Flynn said.

He went on to note that now would be an ideal time for repairs to be made as, during Covid-19 restrictions, the road is much quieter than normal.

“With Covid, from five to six o’clock in the evening, there’s nothing happening now in any town or village, so I think that it’s an ideal time if anything could be done in trying to secure the funding for that,” he added.

Director of Services, Roads and Transportation, Padraig Barrett, informed the council that the Roads Department would look into whether a funding application would be required for repairs on Patrick

Street.

‘VERY DANGEROUS JUNCTION’

A second issue within the town was also raised by the Glanworth councillor, who requested an update on the report carried out regarding a proposed safety plan for the junction at Christ Church.

Five roads meet at this junction, including the busy M8 and N72, resulting in a ‘very dangerous’ junction, according to Cllr O’Flynn.

“There are five roads into that cross, it’s undulating, especially coming down from the Dublin side. It’s especially dangerous. We were looking forward to a report and a survey and I would really like to see that, as it is necessary infrastructure for Fermoy,” Cllr O’Flynn said.

Mr Barrett informed the Northern Committee that he would come back to them with an update on the junction at Christ Church in Fermoy and would communicate to all the members a time for this.

CYCLE PATH

The new footpath and cycle lane on the old R639 road from Fermoy towards Moorepark was welcomed by Councillor Noel McCarthy at the meeting, however with recent heavy rainfall over the weekend, Cllr McCarthy highlighted issues with surface water and flooding on this stretch of road.

“Everybody is delighted with it, but I drove up that way and there was flooding on the road”.

“Obviously, it’s from the works that were done,” the councillor claimed, “but it was causing a lot of concern to people. Driving up that road yesterday, there was a lot of water on the road,” Cllr McCarthy said.

Director of Services, Roads and Transportation, Mr Barrett responded that he would speak with the area engineer, again highlighting the heavy rainfall witnessed last weekend.

“If there’s flooding there, we’ll have a look at it,” Mr Barrett added.

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien raised another flood-related issue regarding the collection of silt on drains and roadsides which may subsequently fall back into drains and block them.

“The drains are good to protect people. The only thing is that when maybe a truck hits the silt, it actually falls back into the drain again and I find that it actually blocks up the drain and has undone our good work,” she said.

Cllr O’Brien requested that the council remove any silt where there may be a threat of it going back into a drain.

“We want the works to be as effective as possible and the removal of material that could again clog up drains is a priority. We will, of course, ensure that that happens,” Mr Barrett responded.

‘CONCERN’ AT PEDESTRIAN CROSSING LIGHTING

The public lighting at the MacCurtain Street pedestrian crossing in Fermoy was also noted, with Cllr McCarthy having raised the topic at a meeting last week.

“It has got a bit better, but since I raised it a lot of people are still saying that they’re not happy with the overall situation on the lighting on MacCurtain Street,” Cllr McCarthy said.

He highlighted the area as a ‘concern’ as there are only lights on one side of the road on MacCurtain Street, which does not appear to extend to the whole area.

Director Barrett told Cllr McCarthy that he would speak with the public lighting engineer regarding the issue.

The new pedestrian crossing in Mitchelstown was welcomed by Cllr Kay Dawson who noted that the development adds to previous works carried out via the Age-Friendly projects.

Cllr Dawson, however, appealed to the public to begin using the pedestrian crossings in the town.

“I will appeal to the public that they would actually use them as you still have some people darting across and it’s unnecessary now because there’s plenty of safety measures in place,” Cllr Dawson said.