Hopes of the potholes on roads in County Louth being fixed any time soon were dashed yesterday when the Council’s senior engineer told the monthly Drogheda Borough meeting that it could be 17 years before all of the roads are attended to.
Over the past few years the town’s 1,600 km road network has been allowed to degenerate into a sorry state which has been exacerbated by contractors installing services such as gas, water and broadband and not reinstating the road surfaces properly.
Drivers and cyclists, especially cyclists, will know only too well that a smooth road surface is a rarity in and around Drogheda, the exception rather than the rule.
The issue is more or less a constant on the agenda for Borough meetings and yesterday’s April meeting was no different with Councillor after Councillor adding to the list of potholes needing attention.
Drogheda Rural Councillor Declan Power, a dab hand at spotting potholes and reporting them, asked at the meeting if an audit of road repairs could be drawn up and a plan of campaign put in place to tackle the job using the Council’s new(ish) secret weapon, the Pothole Pro.
Senior Engineer Mark Johnston told the meeting that, even with the Pothole Pro working at full capacity alongside the more traditional road repair crews, it will be 17 years before all the potholes in Louth are dealt with.
When the Pothole Pro was introduced last July the Chairman of Louth County Council, Cllr. Conor Keelan, described the machine as “…a fantastic new development towards further improving the efficiency of our operations across the roads of Co. Louth.”
Mark Johnston was quoted at the time as saying: “…this ground-breaking technology will be vital in enabling us to meet the Council’s strategy of prompt pothole mending with no requirement for further, future repair.”
Perhaps they were stunned by the engineer’s prediction but no councillor at last night’s meeting asked about the possibility of buying another machine, or even two.
