Fears over road damage during motorway construction

Full-time engineers must be appointed to ensure that local roads are not destroyed during the construction of the Gort to Tuam motorway.

The call has come following the disastrous situation that existed during the construction of the motorway from Galway to Ballinasloe when some local roads were left in a very poor state.

However, the National Roads Authority has said that there will be at least three engineers available to liaise with the public in relations to the condition of haul roads.

And Tony Collins, senior engineer with the National Roads Authority in Galway, said that road strengthening works would be carried out on roads that would be used to haul materials to the new motorway site.

He said that a lot of lessons had been learned from the construction of the M6 motorway during when minor roads and walls of houses were destroyed due to heavy traffic.

Galway West TD Noel Grealish said that he did not want rural communities to suffer as part of the motorway development which he described as a major investment for the county.

“I saw at first-hand what happened during the construction of the motorway from Galway to Ballinasloe. There were roads in the Athenry area which were cut to ribbons.

“While this is a great piece of infrastructure, it should not impact on local communities and where materials are being drawn by 30 and 40 lorries a day. They should not have to suffer,” Deputy Grealish added.

Deputy Grealish said that houses along haulage routes serving the M6 motorway were shook and front walls were destroyed by the volume of traffic. He did not want this to happen when it came to the Gort to Tuam motorway.

But Tony Collins of the NRA said that he along with three engineers would be available to members of the public at all times. He added that a lot of lessons had been learned from the Galway to Ballinasloe motorway construction.

“We will be looking at the quality of all of the haulage roads to the motorway and will be determining their suitability. We will have no difficulty in carrying out road strengthening works on stretches of road that need to be addressed,” Mr. Collins added.

Fencing off along the route will commence in the middle of January and it is expected that excavators will move in shortly after. It is expected that the motorway project will create 700 jobs directly as well as generating hundreds of million euro additionally for the local economy.