Road not fit for traffic
Safety concerns over road in Redwood
A road in the Redwood-Ballymacegan area in the parish of Lorrha is highly dangerous and is not fit for traffic, according to the locals.
Part of the road, which is a small loop road that swings around by Redwood Castle, was repaired some years ago after a public meeting was held in the parish about the state of the roads in general. However, a stretch of this road of about 3.2km was left without any tarmac. Five households on that stretch of road are badly affected by the condition of the road, which is deteriorating day on day with massive potholes on both sides of the road, so traffic has nowhere to pull to avoid those very deep potholes. “It’s not just about us,” said one resident, “it’s about all the other people from the area who have stock to feed and land to be ploughed that are also using this road.”
He pointed out that a lot of heavy traffic use the road, like tractors, trailers, livestock lorries, animal meal providers, milk lorries, bin lorries, etc, as well as cyclists. “All those people are asking us why aren’t we doing something about it. We are told there is money allocated, but what’s the hold up if that’s the case?” he said. The locals are also concerned that someone will be badly hurt or injured as a result of this bad road and they feel powerless and at the mercy of the councillors and the council.
The group say that they were told back in 2021 that Tipperary County Council had a three-year programme in place to carry out works and that the stretch of road in question. However, nothing has been done so far. “We used to have a lot of cyclists around here because it’s on a cycle loop and they come to visit Redwood Castle, but we don’t have them anymore because the road is not fit for purpose,” he added.
Local Councillor Michael O’Meara said that he is very aware of the road in question. “This is a very long rural road and over the years I have gotten a large section of it resurfaced namely from the Portumna main road to Ballymacegan and on the Redwood Church side also. This leaves a long section in the middle of almost 3km to complete the job. There is €83,200 allocated to do an additional 1km on the Ballymacegan side this year. The remaining approximately 2km will be tarred in two phases next year and the following year starting at the Redwood church side. I have been in constant contact with the residents on this road and I have conveyed their concerns to the road engineers,” he said.