Public in County Roscommon fed up with noise and dust from N5 project

People living in the vicinity of the new N5 road project feel like they are “living in a prison” due to the ongoing noise, dust and dirt caused by the works, it has been claimed.

Last week’s meeting of the local authority heard that up to twenty houses in the Ballinagare area were being affected by works on the new N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramogue route where it crosses the old N5 between Ballinagare and Frenchpark.

Local councillors Sean Moylan (FF) and Liam Callaghan (FG) highlighted how local residents were affected by constant noise, dust and dirt from trucks, blasting for rock and piledriving.

“People living there describe it like living in a prison, they can’t go out even on the nicest day with dust and dirt. Local people are saying their cars and the road is destroyed. They are piledriving and blasting several times a week and it’s going on from seven in the morning until seven in the evening,” he said.

Cllr Callaghan said that similar issues were also being experienced between Strokestown and Elphin.

“People’s cars are being destroyed with dirt, dust and muck because lorries are going night and day. There are a lot of lorries moving back and forth and there is a lot of noise. For the householders in Ballinagare, their entire summer is tied up with this noise from seven in the morning until seven in the evening.

“They can feel their homes vibrating…the amount of noise, the dust. It has interfered with their hay, the amount of dust on crops. Pets have gone missing because of the noise and livestock in some places have been disturbed,” he said.

Both agreed that communication to the residents about activity on the road project was a problem.

“The most thing they are concerned about is the information level they are receiving. If they just know when this is happening or the level it is happening to, they could go out for the day or maybe go somewhere else for the day,” said Cllr Moylan.

"They are not saying anything against the project going ahead but they need a little break at a certain time, and maybe the contractors and engineers from the county council could meet with them to discuss the matter,” said Cllr Callaghan.

He also suggested that some form of compensation might be given to residents who had to regularly power wash their house, wash their windows and cars because of the dust and dirt. 

Independent councillors Micheál Frain and Valerie Byrne also echoed the sentiments of their their two colleagues.

Assistant director of services Greg O'Donnell said there was probably very little room for influencing the contractor’s work scope but the the conditions in relation to certain activities at certain times could be checked. He also said that there should be dust suppression sweepers deployed when there is a lot of dust in the area “so we can make sure they are doing that as well”.