More than a quarter of Kilkenny’s roads restoration allocation’s heading to the north of the county.
Three quarters of a million euro’s been granted to the council with almost €200,000 of the figure earmarked for the Castlecomer municipal district alone.
Cllr Pat Fitzpatrick says it’s a fair share of the fund, telling KCLR News; “We have the biggest amount of roads in this municipal district so it’s only correct that we would get the largest proportion of that and Philippe (Senior Executive Engineer for Castlecomer MD Philippe Beubry) outlined two schemes that are getting done, separately then there’s the other roadwork scheme that’s going on particularly in Castlecomer, Barrack Hill in Castlecomer, which we have been looking to have resurfaced for a number of years now and it’s been held up because of issues with Uisce Éireann / Irish Water so we’re going ahead to resurface that”.
It’s understood agreement’s been reached between the two bodies which will see the water body redo any surfacing when they dig in to deal with the pipes they’re aiming to upgrade. It means long-awaited tarring along the stretch can now be done.
Cllr Fitzpatrick notes “We have to get this tarring done and resurfacing and restructuring of that road but that if Uisce Éireann when they come to do it in the next couple of years that they will compensate Kilkenny County Council and restore the road to exactly as it is, I’m delighted that’s being done, I’m delighted to see it getting done during the school holiday time because there’s limited traffic on that road so it’s good news for Castlecomer and long overdue”.
Barrack Hill is home to the local secondary school as well as a growing residential area – 35 new homes were recently built there by the county council and plans for more are currently going through the process.
Cllr Fitzpatrick says the upgrade’s long awaited; “Everyone that’s been using Barrack Hill will tell you the condition has been deplorable over the last number of years and we in Kilkenny County Council have been raising it and in fairness to Phillipe he wanted to get it done but we were hoping that Uisce Éireann would have these pipes replaced but they haven’t replaced them as yet and we just have to move forward with the guarantee that they will cover any costs if they come to repair or renew the pipes”.
