Portlaoise to get €25 million worth of new roads in Laois budget
Portlaoise taking lions share of new roads planned by Laois County Council
Laois County Council is prioritising new Portlaoise roads in the coming three years, to the tune of €25 million.
The council has revealed €35.9m worth of roads plans, as part of its €231m Indicative Capital Programme for 2027 to 2029.
Described by the Cathaoirleach Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald as “a Santy wish list” for local councillors, the plan ultimately depends on the Government supplying most of the cash.
In the roads list, €25m out of €35.9m will go directly to building new Portlaoise roads, to aid traffic flow across the rapidly growing town.
There would be €5.5m for the Stradbally road to Dublin Road link across St Fintan’s Campus lands, €10m for the Dublin Road to Borris Road link through housing estates, €7.5m for the Rathleague Link Road, and €2m to design the Portlaoise Northern Orbital Route.
The other €10.9m is also partly going towards Portlaoise.
It is divided into €3m for cycling routes, €1.2m for public transport supports, €1m for Safe Routes to Schools, €2m for a Park and Stride, and €1.4m for public E-car chargers.
Durrow is planned to get €2m for one-way traffic management and car parking.
Portarlington is listed for €1m for traffic management.
€750,000 will be spent on traffic calming/crossings in towns and housing estates.
Mountrath, Mountmellick and Abbeyleix will share €400,000 towards identifying traffic management solutions.
There is €600,000 for Low Cost Safety Remedial Schemes, €250,000 for bridge improvements, and finally €300,000 for local roadworks.
Cllr Paddy Buggy welcomed the money to design the PNOR, “crucial infrastructure for Portlaoise”.
Cllr Ollie Clooney is happy that Durrow is getting extra parking.
Cllr Ben Brennan is not happy that traffic calming for Arles village is not on the list.
“You’ve heard about it enough times. Something serious is going to happen down there,” he said.
Director of services for roads Simon Walton explained why some planned roads are not included.
“There’s no point in me putting funds to implement that into the capital budget until it’s identified as a priority by the TII. I hope next year there will be specific provision for Arles.
“We’ve stressed the importance of the traffic calming measures sought in Arles to the TII. We are at the point of submitting a feasibility and options report to the TII which is what they require us to do. There is progress, albeit slower than any of us want,” Mr Walton said.
In all, Laois County Council’s Indicative Capital Programme adds up to €231m of investments across Laois, also taking in housing, enterprise, tourism, flood defences, fire services, urban and regeneration, burial grounds, libraries, leisure amenities and climate action.
The state would have to grant €204.9m of it, with another €15.8m from Laois development levies and €10.3m from the council’s own coffers.
Laois County Council’s CEO Michael Rainey said it is “a very ambitious list”.
“If there’s opportunities for funding we’ll be going after them as aggressively as possible. This county needs investment from Government and we will be using every opportunity to attract and bring in that investment.
“We’ve had a lot of success for town centres applications, and we will be continuing in that vein. Take this as an indicative capital list, but if there is funding opportunities, we will be at the table looking for our share,” he said.