Louth's McGreehan says new classification of regional routes needed
Senator McGreehan says new classification of regional routes needed to enable them to cope with large volumes of traffic
Louth based Senator Erin McGreehan, has said that a new classification of regional routes may be required to upkeep them to a higher standard to help them cope with the large volumes of traffic they experience.
Senator McGreehan referenced regional routes in Louth including the R173, the R175 and the R176 in north Louth.
The Fianna Fáil senator said: “The issue is that of regional routes and their ability to safely deal with the volume of traffic travelling on them. Particularly, the R176 that goes right on to the Border in north County Louth has several primary schools located on it as well as one secondary school. It is a regional route but it has the traffic volumes found on a national route.
“I would like the Minister for Transport to come into the Seanad to discuss how we can finance local government to enable it to be able to undertake the upkeep of these regional routes to a higher standard, to get traffic calming measures put in place and to get a different focus placed on these regional routes, something which might be akin to a super-regional road as opposed to a standard regional route.
“I say this because it will never be possible to raise it to a national road standard, so it needs extra resources and to be given a higher priority. Far too many lives have been lost along this route from the Ballymac roundabout to Cornamucklagh House at the Border.
“Basically, I am asking that we would have a new classification of regional roads to enable them to cope with the large volume of traffic, which is, as I said, far more akin to that found on national routes.
"This route in north county Louth is the main spine of connectivity for the entire populace of the Cooley Peninsula. Many people live there, there is a great deal of industry, with Greenore Port being on that peninsula, and it is also an extremely important tourism area.
“To achieve road safety and to prepare for the future, we need to have a new standard of regional routes.”