'Very lucky' there hasn't been serious injury accident on road in Killenaule area, council told

Such is the poor condition of a rural road in the Killenaule area after water mains works that tractors with heavy loads can’t travel on it and Tipperary County Council has been warned it’s very lucky there hasn’t been a serious accident along the route.

That’s what Labour Cllr Michael ‘Chicken’ Brennan told council officials when he highlighted the ‘deplorable’ state of the R689 Killenaule to Coolbawn Cross Road at the monthly meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District councillors and called for it to be fully resurfaced.

He raised the issue in the wake of reinstatement of sections of the road following the replacement of old water mains with new mains along several kilometres of it by Uisce Éireann contractors. The project designed to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce water leakage from mains commenced last summer.

Cllr Brennan, who is from Killenaule, said he received a number of calls a week from constituents about the condition of the road. Tractors carrying large loads of straw can’t travel on it at the moment.

He highlighted potholes and dips in the road, instances of flooding arising where it never occurred before and the poor condition the contractors left grass margins and the entrances to houses.

Cllr Brennan pointed out he constantly drove on that road and he believed its bad condition was a factor in his jeep being in the garage the week of the council meeting.

It was very lucky someone hasn’t been seriously injured in an accident on the road, he said pointing specifically to the danger it posed to motorcyclists.

Michael Scully, District Engineer of Carrick MD, responded that the laying of new water mains along the Killenaule to Coolbawn Cross Road needed to be done but acknowledged that some parts of the road are currently bad.

He explained the road will be properly reinstated when the works are finished.

The reinstatement of the road was under the remit of Uisce Éireann and the utility was not going to do it in a piecemeal way.

Mr Scully said there was a standard the council required of the road reinstatement works and the local authority will be going through that with Uisce Éireann when the water mains laying works were finished.

They needed to be a little patient as little work can be done at the moment.

In relation to Cllr Brennan’s call for the road to be fully resurfaced, Mr Scully explained the council hasn’t the power to demand a full resurfacing.

The utility was not required to do this by the road opening licence or legislation.

He stressed that a bond was paid to the council for this project and it wouldn’t be signed off on until the local authority is satisfied with the condition of the road after the reinstatement works are finished.