Tipperary TD tells TII to 'stop stalling on town's inner relief road' following accident

Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill has called on Transport Infrastructure Ireland to "stop stalling on the Thurles Inner Relief Road" and to allow it to proceed to construction.

Deputy Cahill’s intervention comes following a serious accident in Thurles this Wednesday afternoon, where a pedestrian was seriously injured while crossing Liberty Square.

“Yesterday afternoon, a serious incident took place on Liberty Square in Thurles where a pedestrian crossing the Square was involved in an accident with a heavy goods vehicle. This is the third serious accident to take place on Liberty Square in a short period of time.

“I secured the inclusion of the Thurles Inner Relief Road in the updated National Development Plan under this Government, with the assistance of Minister Michael McGrath. The money is there to construct this road and it is now well past time for TII to stop dragging their heels on this project.

“TII do not see the Thurles Inner Relief Road as a priority. It is time for that utter nonsense and anti-road mentality to stop once and for all. The recent accidents in Liberty Square are proof that an Inner Relief Road in Thurles is now an absolute priority. We need a second river crossing in the town to take as much traffic, especially heavy vehicles, out of the town centre as possible.

“The ongoing issues with the acquisition of land needs to be addressed immediately. Tipperary County Council cannot excuse this any longer and need to CPO the remaining land in question.

 “The Thurles Inner Relief Road is in the Capital Development Plan as a result of Minister Michael McGrath’s work on this project with me. The money is there. The need is blatantly there. It’s time for TII to get out of the way and do their job by moving it to design and development immediately.”