Thurles campaigner calls on council to update residents on town's inner relief road

The proposed inner relief road from Clongour to the Mill Road has been promised for many years but has yet to be delivered, according to local campaigner Tommy Barrett.

He said that he could understand that a lot of the ground work had been done by Tipperary County Council, but he felt the public had a right to know when we should expect work to commence on this significant project for Thurles.

In the hope of getting some answers, Mr Barrett said that he asked Deputy Mattie McGrath to question Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan on the delays in delivering this project and the Minister responded that the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads was the statutory responsibility of each local authority. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

Minister Ryan outlined that the primary focus for capital investment under his Department’s Regional and Local Road Grant Programme continued to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network with some limited investment in road improvement projects.

He said that €75,000 had been allocated to the Thurles Inner Relief Road scheme in 2023 to allow Tipperary County Council to progress the detailed design of the scheme.

“Implementation of the scheme is the responsibility of Tipperary County Council,” said Mr Ryan.

Mr Barrett said that he was now asking Thurles Municipal District Council to release a statement to update the people of Thurles on the status of this significant project and how the €75,000 allocated this year will be used to progress this project.

“This project has been talked about for years now and we are seeing very little progress and the lack of communication is frustrating,” he said. “Surely the public has a right to be updated on such a significant project for our town.”

Mr Barrett said that the commencement of this project would be a major boost for Thurles.

“We are privileged to have two very competent TDs representing our town and I urge them to ensure this project is progressed at a quicker pace,” he said.

Mr Barrett said that he was “personally very frustrated” at how long it is taking to deliver this project, considering Deputy Jackie Cahill was a member of the Government and Deputy Lowry was a regular supporter of the Government over the years.

“We know that we can forget about a bypass for Thurles as it is not included in the Ireland 2040 National Development Plan. This is why focus needs to turn to the delivery of this relief road,” said Mr Barrett.

He said that the delivery of the relief road will be through private development resulting from the roadway for the Lidl development and national funding will have to be sought to complete the project.

He maintained that for this project to progress engagement and dialogue should take place between Tipperary County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport.

“There is no doubt that this road would help to alleviate traffic congestion in Thurles and improve the quality of life for residents of the town,” said Mr Barrett.