A hastily arranged meeting took place yesterday between the Drogheda Councillors and Council officials to discuss concerns first raised by Cllr. James Byrne, over the exclusion of several roads and steps from this year’s Road Works Programme (RWP 24 which had been approved by Councillors in the spring.
Difficulties arose following a tendering process, which required a re-tendering of contracts, when the price came in at an unexpected €1.5m above the €2.8m the Council had to spend on South Louth roads for this year. A decision was made to cut 10 of the 27 roads, a significant reduction on what we approved and expected to be done in 2024.
“I want to thank Mayor Paddy McQuillan for convening the meeting which was productive in nature and where consensus was reached to include the roads affected in the Road Works Programme for 2025” Cllr. Byrne said.
“There may even be scope to bring some of these projects forward to the latter part of 2024. A request will be formalised and submitted to the Department to bring forward some of next year’s road works budget to this year.
“The Department for Transport has at its discretion to allow a small percentage be front loaded – if no further top up is received for road improvements for 2024. A top up was received towards the end of last year.
“However, in the context of €1m given to Louth County Council for the flooding in Cooley and a top up of €472,000 for restoration improvement for the county earlier this summer (on top of the €4.7m annual allocation) due to the damage to roads caused by persistent bad weather in the spring this may not be forthcoming.
“Councillors also agreed to write to the Minister seeking additional funding before the year end to bridge the unforeseen funding deficit. Work on the remaining roads surfaces will be completed over the next couple of months.
“It is also worth noting that Louth is one of only three Councils to participate in a reclaimed asphalt pilot project which provides the Council with €2.1m over three years. Recycled asphalt is being tested on three minor roads such as the Togher to Port road to see if it stands the test of time and if successful will be rolled out again next year on busier routes.”
