Over €23 million has been allocated for regional and local roads in County Galway in 2018, an increase of over €1.7 million on last year’s fund.
Funding of €13.2 million for improvement works and €3.3 million for maintenance makes up the bulk of this money.
I am delighted to see that monies are included for the Athenry Relief Road. This project is vital for the overall development of Athenry into the future.
€115 has been allocated for works on the Bawnmore realignment and €125,000 for works on the R333 between Tuam and Headford, including bridge rehabilitation works. €300,000 has also been allocated for the realignment of Nutfield Cross, Ballinasloe.
I particularly welcome the allocation of €690,000 under a new heading called ‘drainage works’. This funding may be used for the alleviation of road drainage problem, which is a blight on our roads due to the amount of rainfall.
The inclusion of funding for the Community Involvement Schemes is also very important to a county like Galway and has proven to be very successful.
‘Road safety is of paramount important and the inclusion of €250,000 for safety improvement works on regional and local roads will be of major benefit for road safety. There is an allocation of €30,000 for speed limits in housing estates and housing areas, which will make our housing estates safer in the future.
Today’s funding announcement represents an increase of almost 10% in the annual roads programme. Further funding will be allocated through Minister Michael Ring’s department for the Local Improvement Schemes and this will be announced in coming months.