There is a crisis now emerging in relation to many roads in County Clare. Roads which required attention long before the extreme weather struck are now left in a terrible condition. For example the main road through Clarecastle and the Kildysart Road Clarecastle require immediate attention. The main Ennis Kilrush/Kilkee road is in a particularly bad way, so too the Road
from Broadford to Limerick. Roads in North and East Clare desperately require investment where pothole filling simply will not suffice and where whole sections of road surfaces need to be relaid.
Clare County Council’s roads budget has been cut by a third in the space of two years. Such a hit in funding will make it impossible for the local authority to bring roads back up to a respectable standard. The cut in funding will undermine the five year roads programme. Roads which were scheduled to receive attention will now be ignored and placed on the long finger. This will have a direct impact on safety levels in towns and villages across County Clare. We know that poor road surfaces are linked with increase in accidents and fatalities. The government has a duty to insure we have a safe and properly maintained road network.
This blatant under funding of Clare’s road network will also impact on the local economy and be a negative factor in attracting employment and investment to the region. When the government needed the finances to bail out the banks there was no
problem finding it. But when it comes to rescuing our roads, a basic infastructural need, they are found wanting.