Councillors and officials call it the R166, but everyone else in Drogheda calls it the Termonfeckin Road. I suppose people living in Termonfeckin call it the Drogheda Road.
Whatever you call it, it’s a death trap without a footpath or cycle lane and it is also in a shocking state of disrepair making it dangerous and uncomfortable for motorists and almost impassable for any cyclist foolhardy enough to use it.
Potholes are never far from the minds of local Councillors, they report them at every monthly meeting, but there are so many potholes on the R166 that you couldn’t count them.
This state of affairs has been caused by works being carried out by Irish Water who are installing a major pipeline to the village with a better supply of the precious liquid.
The job was supposed to be finished before Christmas and the road surface reinstated around now, but that is now a pipedream (excuse the pun). Councillors were told on Monday that it will be May or June at least before the contractors are finished.
As you can imagine, this really annoyed the three Councillors representing the rural area who have been bombarded with queries and complaints from residents on the issue for months.
“Myself and my Drogheda Rural colleagues are at the end of our tether putting in representations about the state of the Termonfeckin Road” said Labour Councillor Michelle Hall.
“The road is not only causing damage to vehicles, it’s also dangerous for road users having to avoid the kilometres of potholes.
“We have come together to insist that someone take responsibility, Irish Water and/or Louth County Council to resurface the entirety of the R166.
“While we understand that the infrastructure works are badly needed, the quality of the reinstatements by the contractors for Irish Water have been questioned for the last few months.
“It’s with huge dismay that we learned on Monday, that it may be June or July before the road will be resurfaced. In the meantime, the JCB Pro (the Council’s new Pothole fixing machine) must be assigned to fill in the potholes along this route.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Tom Cunningham described the delay in repairing the road as ‘an absolute disgrace’.
“We have now been informed that the road works will not finish until April which will delay the resurfacing until July. Bearing in mind that this is the second set of roadworks on this road in recent months, the first was a cable being laid for the solar Farm, this is unacceptable to travellers who use that road.”
Cllr Cunningham also described the road as a disgrace. “It’s full of potholes and they are filled with rainwater making them indistinguishable from the road and vehicles are being damaged as they go into them in the wet weather” he said.
“The contractors need to take responsibility for the damage they have created on the road and the Council need to repair the potholes. This should not wait until July, this needs to be done now and I don’t care if the contractors have to return a few times to do temporary repairs. The road should be left in an acceptable condition after their works and people should have an acceptable standard of road until it can be resurfaced in July.”
Independent Councillor Declan Power said, “As we reach mid-February, it is evident that very little roadworks have been carried out in the Drogheda Rural area since well before Christmas. The R166 Termonfeckin Road resembles a war zone and is an absolute disgrace that the road users must subjected to its current condition.
The upgrading of the water infrastructure has been welcomed and long overdue but Uisce Éireann has failed to reach timelines and repair the road as they go. We know that Uisce Éireann has committed to reinstating the road surface when the upgrade is complete. Still, their failure to ensure our regional road is roadworthy while works are ongoing is unacceptable.
Cllr. Power also queried Louth Co. Council’s Road Opening Licencing to utility services and questioned whether work had been checked or snagged to ensure obligations were being adhered to while work was carried out.
