Surface of Clonmel street becomes 'lethal' when it rains

The surface of the footpath and road in the town centre street of Mitchel Street, Clonmel is “lethal” in wet weather, a meeting of Clonmel Borough District Council was told.

Cllr. Michael Murphy asked if the council had any plans to replace the paving, which was in a poor and dangerous condition, especially on wet days, in the pedestrianised street.

He said that he came to the assistance of an elderly man who had slipped there recently.

The traffic that drove on the street at night, making deliveries to shops, didn’t help the situation. A lot of the paving was loose and some of it was missing.

Cllr. Murphy said that if the council was to carry out any short-term repair work he was anxious that this wouldn’t disrupt trade in the run-up to Christmas or during the January sales.

Cllr. Andy Moloney said the surface of the street looked lovely but was lethal in wet weather.

He had slipped there himself and if he had a fall in his prime then elderly people must find it very difficult to walk there.

He suggested that the council would power-hose the street because there was a covering of film on the surface, caused by the diesel from delivery trucks, and this made it slippery.

Cllr. Pat English said that this was an ongoing problem for a number of years at a serious cost to the council.

Many people couldn’t even see the footpaths on either side of the street.

District Mayor Richie Molloy said that the paving bricks never seemed to last and it was an accident waiting to happen.

The problem should be looked at as soon as possible.

Cllr. Siobhan Ambrose said that the paving bricks looked beautiful but they always came loose over time.

The surface in nearby Abbey Street was also poor and this was a problem in Market Place as well.

However difficult it was for men to walk on the surface, she said it was “a million times worse” for women who wore high heels.

District Manager Sinead Carr said the council would try and come up with a short-term solution.

In time the surfaces of the streets should be paved in a co-ordinated manner because it would be part of the upgrade of the town centre.

Council area engineer Eoin Powell said that some patching work would be carried out before the end of the month, where some sections were worse than others. 

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