Rising costs could affect Boyle road works programme

A detailed breakdown of the roads budget for 2026 for Boyle Municipal District was presented to local councillors at their recent meeting.

Members welcomed the report but were told that fuel costs could have an effect on the completion of the number of roads selected for works. €500,000 is being provided under the national primary roads major schemes for the N5 Ballaghaderreen by-pass to Longford.Under the minor schemes active travel a total fund of €580,000 has been announced. Included in this is €20,000 each for four areas on the N5 which include Ballingare, Frenchpark, Strokestown and Tulsk while €500,000 has been provided for the N5 Tulsk to Rathcroghan minor scheme.

In relation to the national primary greenways €500,000 has been budgeted for the Lough Key to Carrick-on-Shannon project; €300,000 for the Lough Ree project running from Athlone to Ballyleague/Lanesboro while €300,000 has also been budgeted for the Lough Ree greenway from Ballyleague/Lanesborough to Tarmonbarry/Strokestown/Roosky which amounts to a total fund of €1,100,000 for greenways in the county.

Members also heard that €300,000 has also been budgeted for the N61 Clashganny to Tulsk improvement scheme. The meeting heard that an estimated 150 local roads have been included in the plan and if there is any extra money available other roads would undergo work but with costs rising and uncertainty in relation to fuel prices it would be hard to predict what would happen.

Under the regional roads surface restoration and road reconstruction programme, Ballaghaderreen Operational Area (OP) will receive a total of €458,000; Boyle OP €981,000 and Strokestown OP €495,000 making for a total of €1,934,000. The programme in the Ballaghaderreen district will see works at Carrowbane costing €158,000 and Gortnagoyne costing €300,000. In Boyle a budget of €267,000 has been set for Cartronvally; €108,000 for Knockvicar; €300,000 for Keadue; €151,000 for Fostragh; €100,000 for Warren or Drum and €55,000 for Battlebridge.

In the Strokestown area a budget of €80,000 has been set for Elphin; €275,00 for Corbally and €140,000 for Corbally.

In total the money funded by the Department of Transport Restoration Improvement Grant will see works carried out on 6,570 metres of roads. Members raised the issue of locals roads which has been damaged as a result of works on the N5 while the problem of forestry lorries causing damage was also highlighted. In total the budget for the Roads Works Scheme provided for 2026 amounts to €9,709,104 which includes funding from the TII, the Department of Transport and the council’s own resources.

The programme also includes winter maintenance, public lighting, bridge rehabilitation, drainage schemes, climate change adaption works and community involvement schemes. *Published under Local Democracy Scheme.

*Published under the Local Democracy Scheme