It’s a New Year but the same old problems exist with roads around the town.
For too long many of them have been in a bad state of repair with the council none too eager to rectify the situation it seems.
Despite yesterday’s news that €1.4m is going to be spent repairing roads and footpaths throughout Dundalk and North Louth, the pothole problem is much greater.
Perhaps the biggest example of the council’s ignorance comes with the left-hand turn onto the Ramparts off the St Alphonsus Road, heading towards the Fire Station.
Despite being almost directly opposite the council’s headquarters, a pothole has remained intact for the best part of a year. This corner is very difficult to negotiate without hitting it and can lead to cars crossing the white line on the opposite site of the road in order to do so.
Of course, that’s not the only problem. Despite being one of the main routes into Dundalk Garda Station, the road at the top of Stapleton Place is becoming nothing short of a disgrace and one can almost liken it to driving on the moon.
Opposite Glen Gat House has been a problem for some time but since the single lane of traffic here was implemented to accommodate a virtually disused cycle lane, it simply cannot cope with the additional load.
Many estates too are also not without their problems and a pot hole similar to the one on the St Alphonsus Road has been in existence for some time at the entrance to Greenacres.
The number of floods in our estates of late suggest that bigger problems may lie ahead due to the council’s failure to both keep road surfaces in an adequate state and to clear drains.
We ask is it good enough? The likely answer is no!
