Kildare councillor questions why timelines have ‘continuously slipped’ over proposed Celbridge Road upgrades

Kildare County Council's Áras Chill Dara headquarters. The building is located at Devoy Park in Naas.

placeholder image — Kildare County Council's Áras Chill Dara headquarters. The building is located at Devoy Park in Naas.

A Fine Gael councillor for the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD) asked Kildare County Council (KCC) why timelines have 'continuously slipped' regarding proposed upgrades for the Celbridge Road.

The question was posed by Cllr Tim Durkan as part of a motion at the latest MD meeting, which took place on Friday, December 1 last.

He put forward the following motion to KCC: "That the council set out a timeline of events and deadlines for the proposed

upgrading of the Celbridge Road, Maynooth and the reasons why these timelines have continuously slipped."

In response, KCC pointed to a report it provided at the MD's October 2023 meeting.

Cllr Tim Durkan (Fine Gael). File pic.

The report reads as follows: "Commitments given by the Executive to members for National Transport Authority (NTA) funded projects are clearly dependent on NTA approval of the design proposals, in accordance with their Project Approval Guidelines.

"Whilst the NTA remain supportive of the scheme, they have requested further investigations of design interventions for the options selection stage of the project."

KCC continued: "The council has been asked to progress a more cost-effective design and we are currently reviewing

alternative designs.

"Once the NTA commit to funding an agreed design, a confirmed timeline for public consultation can be agreed with the members.

"The Sustainable Transport Section is progressing the completion of a revised Option Selection Report for the Scheme for submission before the end of 2023 to the NTA for consideration and approval; this report will include consideration of a cost-effective design."

"Once Phase 2 approval (Concept Development and Option Selection) is received then the team will continue on Phase 3 (Preliminary Design) which on approval leads to Phase 4 – the Statutory Process."

KCC added that a copy of the Project Approval Guidelines can be viewed at https://www.nationaltransport.ie/publications/project-approval-guidelines/