Christmas roadworks in Kells criticised

A Kells town councillor has criticised the decision to carry out roadworks in the town in the "middle of Christmas week". Cllr Brian Curran told the December meeting of the council that the decision represented "poor planning" and that he hoped "it won't continue". He said that, in January, he wanted to be furnished with the cost of the road repairs as "people could not get into town. We're open for business, we've put on free parking. Where's the logic, or health and safety, in that?" He added: "I spoke to someone on a CIE bus who said it took 55 minutes to go from George Collier's place through Castle Street to Headfort Place. "That's not fair, people on Castle and Cross Street couldn't do business and that's the reality of it." Town engineer Shane Carroll told Cllr Curran that a number of projects on water and by Bord Gais were "in close proximity to each other" and that the contracts were outside the council's remit but that the council had pushed for them "to be done in time for the Christmas period". He said a traffic plan is "always in place" and that several measures to calm traffic, such as school closing times being staggered, were in operation. He said there was also an agreement that there would be no works before 10am and that are to be off the road by 3pm. Regarding recent works, Mr Carroll told Cllr Curran that "we did take steps to intervene but somewhere the message got lost in communication". Said Cllr Curran: "Four or five times now it's happened, and then two days later, they're back, and the place is in a heap again." "The residents have made representations on this and we can't accept it happening again," Cllr Curran added. He was told that the onus to comply with traffic plans was on the contractor. "That plan is not being implemented, that's factual," he replied. He was told that the engineer on any works has first to be deemed "competent and confident" to carry out works and that all engineers sit tests of their skills to make such they comply with a traffic management plan for a particular work. Elsewhere, Cllr Curran said people have been falling at Headfort Place because of the surface underfoot. Mr Carroll said the material used was tested and was acceptable, and that he had carried out tests himself. "People are falling in the damp, not just when it's frozen. One woman broke an arm, three people fell in one day last week. When the claims come in, we'll see," Cllr Curran warned.