Laois town's summer long Irish Water road closure to last even longer
Mountmellick street has been closed one way since June for Uisce Éireann works
A Laois town has had one side of its main street closed to traffic for a full two months this summer, and now it is to last an extra week.
One lane of Parnell Street in Mountmellick has been closed off to traffic since June 16, as Uisce Éireann dig up the road to replace old and leaking cast iron watermains.
A flashing roadworks sign has issued the new finish date this week in the town. The road is now promised to be reopened on Friday, August 22.
There are about a dozen businesses on Parnell Street, including the town's undertakers, community arts centre, Credit Union, a pharmacy, several hair salons and takeaway restaurants, shops, a pub and two churches.
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Uisce Éireann had initially said that the works were expected to finish on time by August 15, despite starting a week later than scheduled last June.
"With works now commencing on 16 June, we would like to assure the local community that we do not anticipate the amended start date leading to a delay in the completion of works.
"Uisce Éireann is confident in the benefits this will bring to the Mountmellick community. Replacing these old and damaged pipes will significantly lower the instances of bursts and outages on the network, eliminate existing leaks and reduce the amount of clean water lost into the ground. The works will also improve the operation of the network by reducing the need for frequent repairs to aged watermains, resulting in a positive impact on leakage."