€7.5 mill for 45 kms in Laois district that is 'scrimping' for money compared with Portlaosie

Laois County Council expects to spend up to €7.5 road upgrades in towns, villages and rural areas from Mountmellick down to Borris-in-Ossory over the next three years.

However, a county councillor believes it is not enough with his district scrimping for funds compared to Portlaoise which believes gets too much money for roundabouts and other work. 

Details of the Road Works Programme  for west and south Laois in for 2022, 2023 and 2024 were revealed at a recent meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District. 

Councillors welcomed the presentation and plan from the district Engineer Edmond Kenny.  

While grateful for the funding and praising council staff for their plan, Cllr James Kelly, Indpendent, said he was not in favour of a three years programme because things can change dramatically in a year on a road.

He also had reservations about the quantity of work lined up. He said the repairs identified worked out at about 15 kms per year for the largest area of Laois.

"I believe we should be getting a lot more," he said.

Cllr Kelly said when the list of work confirmed is seen by the public, more constituents would join the many people who have already contacted councillors demanding roads to be fixed.

He also felt his area loses out to Portlaoise. 

"Roundabouts are necessary but we see lots of them going into Portlaoise at a huge cost but we are here scrimping and scraping to get roads resurfaced," he said.

"I welcome the programme but we don't have enough funding to do what we have to do," he said.

Cllr Ollie Clooney, Independent, also welcomed the programme. While he accepted it was not enough he said it is an improvement on the small amount of funding available in the past for rural roads. 

He agreed that there is a huge amount of road works needed in the area and appeal for extra money diverted from Portlaoise or elsewhere would be greatly appreciated. 

Cllr Conor Bergin, Fine Gael, praised staff and welcomed the funding. He looked forward to seeing more funding coming through the local improvement scheme for private roads.

Cllr John King, Fine Gael, also welcomed the funding and thanked staff. He said the pressure and roads caused by heavy vehicles must be kept in mind. 

SEE below the full list of works.