News
Council does not have money to redo shoddy road surfaces
There is no money in the budget to redo road surfaces across the city that many complained were inferior to previous roadworks, a top Council official has warned.
The state of the Western Distributor Road and its roundabouts as well as the Menlo Road and several Knocknacarra estates was first raised by Independent Councillor Collette Connolly in a discussion about a local government audit.
She asked whether the Council retained bond money for road contracts, such as the recently completed Western Distributor Road, which she described as substandard and “a shambolic disaster for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists”.
Cllr Pearce Flannery said the work was “shoddy, cheap and a disgrace” and he tabled a motion calling on the Council address the deficiencies in the road surfaces where “topping” was “a major problem”.
Senior engineer at Galway City Council Uinsinn Finn said the road was not mentioned in the audit under the auditor’s damning assessment of the Council’s procurement policies and procedures.
Much of the work was carried out by the Council’s own direct labour crews.
A micro-surface had been carried out on the Western Distributor Road and several other roads rather than do a full overlay, which would have cost six times the cost of the micro-surface.
“The contractor accepts there are some issues at the roundabout,” he stated. He added that some of the issues were caused by the laying of road material during very warm weather last year.
Director of Services for Roads and Transportation Joe O’Neil said the Council would be examining the issues.
Galway City Chief Executive Brendan McGrath asked that councillors to wait and discuss the various roads at area meetings and come up with measures to address them.
“I don’t have the money in the budget to redo them,” he warned.