N73 works foreseen for the summer

It has been confirmed this month that the much maligned (and misaligned!) N73 road upgrade is finally moving forward. Cork County Council notified elected members on Tuesday last week that an invitation has been issued to contractors to tender for the project, and at a meeting this week the projection was made for shovels to hit the ground in August or September, with caution advised however owing to supply issues and the rising costs of materials.

However, responses to the tender are due shortly, and so fingers remain crossed that the dangerous section of road will see action before the close of the year.

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien welcomed the news and is “delighted to see that we are moving through another stage of the process.”

The tender has been advrtised on the eTenders website by way of a framework of eight contractors that was set up previously by Cork County Council. The invitation was issued to the contractors earlier last week.

The road from Waterdyke to Clogher Cross is about 2km long, but the road to get this far might feel much longer to some readers.

It isn’t definitive, but some sources say that it is the Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio as a patron of road-builders, who should be in motorists’ prayers. Alternatively, St Christopher is the reliable man to be invoked for travellers. At least it seems that St Jude - the patron saint of lost causes - can be given some respite now, at least on this section of the N73.