Over €4.5m is being allocated for improvement and maintenance works in Laois for 2018 – with €2.5m alone for road realignment on Portlaoise-Carlow N80 near Arles village.
Deputy Sean Fleming confirmed the allocation of €4,587,715 for improvement and maintenance works on the National Secondary Routes in Laois from Transport Infrastructure Ireland for 2018.
- €2,500,000 is available for the new road realignment project on the N80 near Arles village.
- €409,594 is available for road strengthening on the N77 in the Durrow area.
- €363,760 is available for road strengthening on the N80 on the Mountmellick Road, Portlaoise.
- €135,849 is available for the winter maintenance programme on the National Secondary Routes throughout the county.
The balance of the funding is for the National Secondary Routes is for normal maintenance, road surfacing and lighting.
This announcement only covers funding for these National Secondary Routes.
Separate allocations of funding from the Department of Transport will be announced for regional, county and local roads.
“It is essential that this announcement will also provide funding for the construction of the orbital route from the Abbeyleix Road to the Timahoe Road in Portlaoise,” said Deputy Fleming.
However, Deputy Fleming added that in view of the poor state of the roads across the county, these allocations are totally insufficient.
“There are many treacherous stretches of roads in Laois that should be prioritised for funding and there are also many local roads that are in a very poor condition that need substantial strengthening and resurfacing to bring them back to an acceptable standard.”
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