'The potholes aren't getting any smaller': Questions raised over Tullamore bypass surface

Questions about the condition of the surface on the Tullamore bypass were raised at the April meeting of the Tullamore Municipal District in the Town Hall. 

Councillor Neil Feighery raised the issue during the meeting, stating that urgent action is required to fix the ongoing problem plaguing one of Offaly's busiest roads.

The Fine Gael politician stated: "We mentioned it before but the degradation and breakdown of the surface on the Tullamore bypass, particularly on the main routes is a big issue. It's been nearly 20 years since it opened and it needs significant investment because the potholes aren't getting any smaller so we need to get it done as soon as possible."

Cllr Feighery added: "We need to call on Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to really take a close look at the bypass in Tullamore and realise that if it's going to be fit for purpose as the main bypass for our county town then it needs to be improved."

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He also emphasized the extent of the work needed on the prominent road. "It's not really fair that the Tullamore MD has been left to just do patchwork really to try maintain the surface, I really think it needs a huge investment."

Cllr Feighery concluded: "There's a lot of investment going into the town and especially the centre of the town but we really need to see that road network improved. I'd be calling on our colleagues at TII to deliver that investment as required for the bypass."

Councillor Aoife Masterson also weighed in on the matter echoing her agreement with the previous sentiments. She said: "In terms of potholes, I certainly share Councillor Feighery's concerns in relation to the bypass, I'm glad that we had members of the TII on site to see the needs of the community a few weeks ago and I hope that will be a really important step forward.

The Sinn Fein politician also pointed out specific areas that need to be addressed. She stated: "Around Mucklagh seems to be in a bit of disrepair at the moment on both sides of the village. There's a massive pothole where the shrubbery spells out Mucklagh, I was driving behind somebody that had their tyre blown out there on Easter Monday."

Cllr Masterson continued: "On the other side when you are coming out of the village towards Tullamore, there is a series of potholes as well towards the Clonminch Road so we need to have a look at those. Constituents have also consistently reached out to me in relation to the areas on the bypass side of the hospital, the road towards Kilbeggan and around Tinnycross, which are all in quite bad repair at this stage."

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Senior Executive Engineer Joe Dooley addressed the councillors' concerns regarding the road. He ensured: "As far as the degradation of the bypass, the TII inspector was down here and we have some funding from them to do patch repairs so the worst ones will be done. Some of those are around Mucklagh, Screggan and the western end of it, there are some particularly bad ones there.

However, Dooley acknowledged: "It will be patchwork, for want of a better word. We're spending our maintenance money on fixing the potholes but we do need large scale investment from the TII and that's what we have requested, we will keep banging that drum."

Director of services Paul McLoughlin noted: "Regarding the level of investment which is actually required, what we are now developing after bring the TII inspector down in person and shown them the affected areas is a pavement and asset renewal which we have put in, so we will be prioritising that as item number one.

He went on to say: "TII hasn't funded us in recent years but nationally this year they are compromising regarding the funding that is available. I want us to have a number of applications ready so we will keep doing asset repairs and carry out inspections to identify these areas that need funding. Ideally, we do need large scale investment and as Joe said, we will continue to beat that drum going forward."