€10 million for regional and local roads in Louth announced

Louth has been allocated €10,072,400 in funding this year as part of a national €626 million investment programme for 2023 for regional and local roads.

The funding for Louth covers 16 different schemes and programmes. The schemes and the amounts allocated to each are as follows:

• Restoration Improvement - €4,691,000
• Restoration Maintenance - €685,000
• Supplementary Restoration Maintenance - €538,000
• Discretionary Grant - €1,270,000
• Bridge Rehabilitation - €229,000
• Specific Imp. Grant - €1,000,000
• Strategic Regional & Local Roads - €100,000
• Safety Improvement Works - €174,000
• PSCI: Survey Support - €11,000
• Training Grant - €40,000
• Drainage Works - €320,500
• Former National Roads - €500,000
• Speed Limits (Housing Area Signage) - €22,450
• Speed Limits (Rural Speed Limit Signage) - €45,000
• Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience Works - €230,000
• Community Involvement Scheme - €216,450

These grants supplement local authorities’ own resources expenditure on regional and local road projects and does not represent the total investment in regional and local roads for this year. On Monday, €304k for upgrade works on rural roads and laneways in Louth was also announced as part of the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS).

Making the announcement today, Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan said: “Our main priority in 2023 continues to be the protection and renewal of the existing regional and local road network because that is the one thing you don’t curtail. It makes more sense to protect and repair our roads quickly rather than letting them fall into more expensive disrepair.

"We are providing funding for a range of schemes from larger strategic road improvements to smaller scale road improvements and critical bridge rehabilitation works.

"An important part of this allocation is the climate change adaptation grant which was introduced for works on roads at risk due to the impact of climate change and severe weather events. This funding will continue in 2023 with €16 million being allocated for 329 climate change adaptation projects."

News of the funding was welcomed by Louth based Senator Erin McGreehan. Senator McGreehan commented, "This significant funding increase will enable us to repair, strengthen, and maintain our roads across the region, ensuring that they are suitable for their intended purposes. We are committing resources towards initiatives such as road repairs, bridge rehabilitation, road safety measures, community engagement, drainage improvements, and climate change adaptation.

“Improving and maintaining our road network is essential to the sustained development of local economies in rural Ireland. These roads are critical for children getting to school and people travelling to work safely. Rural regeneration is a top priority for the government, and this investment programme for 2023 is further proof of that commitment.”

Senator McGreehan added that "this investment demonstrates the government's dedication to investing in roads and rural infrastructure".