Navan"s worst roads to get €20k in extra repair funds

An additional €220,000, which has been allocated to this year"s budget for road maintenance in Meath, is now expected to be spent entirely in the Navan electoral area. The decision to spend the extra money in Navan comes in the wake of recent figures which showed the road network in the Navan area was 20 per cent worse than in the rest of the county. An intricate engineering report broke down the quality of the roads in Navan compared to the rest of the county based on statistical readings using a number of indicators. Next month"s meeting of the county council will now be asked to help rebalance the situation by allocating the additional funding to the Navan area, which includes the rural districts of Bohermeen, Dunderry, Robinstown, Kentstown, Skryne and Castletown. At a meeting of Navan Area Council last week, councillors heard details of where the money will be spent, including improvements to Circular Road/Bridge Street junction in Navan, public lighting on the road out to Simonstown in Navan and repairs to the Wilkinstown Road at the Round O and Beaufort estate in Navan. The works will also include safety measures at the junction at Kilberry and the Balreask Crossroads, while there are also plans to spend €35,000 on improvements in Bohermeen and €6,000 on works in Dunderry. Cllr Shane Cassells welcomed the provision of public lighting from Tara Court to the Simonsown Gaels facility, which is to take place a cost of €120,000. He said he had raised the need for this lighting on numerous occasion and was delighted that the work would now go ahead. He added it was a very important safety measure considering the very many people who use the facilities at Simonstown. He also warmly welcomed the work which is to be carried out at Dunderry which includes improvements at Fr Flood Park, including the widening of a turning circle to accommodate bin lorries and oil delivery services. Cllr Joe Reilly said rural communities had as much right to good roads as urban communities and he welcomed the additional funding for the Navan area where roads have 'suffered serious deterioration from Rathkenny to Cushenstown and Bohermeen to Skryne'. He said: 'It will take increased and continuing investment just to have roads at a safe and reasonable standard. Meath County council will have to be able to repair roads more quickly when they start to break up and become dangerous.' Cllr Reilly said he feared that some potholes were now getting so deep that they could activiate airbag systems when hit. Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons was particularly pleased that the Ratholdron Road has been included for works in this year"s scheme. 'The surface has deteriorated badly and the road has sunk in a couple of areas, most notably at Ratholdron Court and just beyond Scoil Naomh Eoin. Driving conditions have been quite dangerous, as cars often cross to the wrong side of the road to avoid the depressed sections,' he said. Cllr Fitzsimons said some of the works would include the road further out at Nevinstown and Randlestown as this was riddled with potholes and was in need of urgent repair. 'Many of these potholes are at dangerous bends and have been the cause of extensive damage to cars as drivers hug the kerb.' He called for drivers to slow down on this stretch as there had been a number of accidents on this road.