After many, many months of road works to facilitate water and solar farm projects which have seen the Termonfeckin Road, the R166, dug up numerous times, and a delay in resurfacing from 2023, the Council has finally confirmed to a much relieved local Councillor, Michelle Hall, that the road will be repaired this summer.

“The road to Termonfeckin and Clogherhead has not been paved with gold, but with multiples of potholes, raised trenches and a headache for motorists and cyclists alike” said Councillor Hall. 

The Drogheda Rural Councillor has been raising her concerns on the quality of the reinstatements by Uisce Eireann (UE) in particular, at the monthly Drogheda Borough District meetings. She now has confirmation from Louth County Council that 10kms of the road will be resurfaced, following remedial works required from UE. 

"Every year I have to make continued representations on the quality of the road surface of the R166 and this year has definitely been the worst yet," Cllr Hall stated.

"Heavy rainfall, gritting and infrastructural works on this road has made it almost impassable for road users. I travel on this road daily myself so I share all my constituents' frustrations and I have been consistently questioning the council's required inspection of the reinstatement works. Last month my Drogheda Rural colleagues and I spent most of our speaking time on this subject. 

“I welcome the detailed response I received from council engineers and the commitment that 10kms of road will be included in this year's Road Works Programme which is due to be approved at the Drogheda BD meeting. I especially want to thank local residents for their patience and perseverance as Uisce Eireann complete their much needed capital infrastructure replacement works." 

Works to be completed: 

1. The programme Louth County Council have been given by Uisce Eireann(UE) is bore pits and UE trenches will be permanently reinstated to half road width 5m before and 5m after excavations by end April.
2. This includes an approx. 400m long trench approaching Termonfeckin and trenches across Newtownstalaban and Beaulieu crossroads.
3. Louth County Council are also requesting them to permanently reinstate older repair pits on the opposite side of the road that were never properly reinstated.
4. Potholes not related to UE Thrust bore pits and UE trenches will be filled short term by LCC over the coming weeks..
5. Full re-surfacing work will take place as part of Road Works Programme 2024 this summer.