Concerned residents and landowners 'left in a cruel limbo situation'

Councillor Des Guckian has asked Leitrim County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland to publish their intentions about the design and actual route to be taken by the N4 extension and Carrick-on-Shannon bypass.
He told the Council at this week's meeting, “There is great concern among the farming community who fear difficulty of access to lands and also residents of homes whose houses may be demolished or end up too close to the new roadway.”

He stated, “It is grossly unfair that such concerned citizens should be left in a cruel limbo situation.”
He repeated what Deputy Marian Harkin had previously requested at an online meeting about the bypass earlier this year, for the Council “to be honest and truthful to those affected.”
He said residents “fear there is no advantage for them with noise, fumes and possibly houses demolished.”
He demanded, “Decisions must be announced now, they could be made in two minutes, not two years.”

Cllr Brendan Barry said councillors should not add to the fear people have about houses being knocked. He said the designs show a corridor of 300m but the roadway will only be 45m.

He asked the Council to answer whether they intend to demolish any house?
Director of Services Joseph Gilhooly said the design of the road is a “complicated process.” It is very detailed and the procedure must be followed.
Terry McGovern, senior engineer, said there is a project liaison officer willing to meet with any resident who has any queries or issues.
He informed the members that 650 people attended the open display. Since then the council has had 38 one-to-one meetings, 28 phone calls and 30 emails by concerned locals.

He said, “We have no intention of taking out 12-14 houses.” He agreed that the corridor on the map is much wider than the actual road will be but this is needed to accommodate the design of the road and environmental factors.
Mr McGovern did concede that at the moment there are 150 direct accesses onto the road, and these will not be allowed due to safety on the extension / bypass. Instead, these roads will be gathered to one entry point.
He concluded that the liaison officer and consultants are available to meet with anyone who has concerns.
Cllr Guckian was un happy with the reply and said the Council was just “going through the motions.”
Again he called for them to “declare what it already has in its mind.” Cllr Guckian's motion was not supported by the other councillors.