Work on Virginia’s town works to begin in Spring

A roundabout for the Ballyjamesuff junction is the stand out feature of the planned overhaul of Virginia town set to get underway next Spring.

Detailed plans were revealed at the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District meeting last Wednesday, where they were agreed by the members, and now go before the full council for part 8 planning approval.

The €3.5m plans were outlined at the Ballyjamesduff MD by Enda Murphy, Executive Engineer with Cavan County Council in the Museum in Ballyjamesduff.

Mr Murphy said they hope to put the project out to tender in the next couple of months, with construction to commence around February to April, 2021. The proposed improvement works will cover an approximate distance of 570 meters in the town.

It effectively runs from the bridge on the Dublin Road entrance on the N3 right down to the Credit Union Building on the Cavan Road entrance and also down the Ballyjamesduff road as far the entrance to the retail complex.

The works will see all overhead lines, including ESB lines, undergrounded in a step that will constitute a major aesthetic improvement to Main Street.

The roads will be resurfaced and failed pavement will be reconstructed, with other areas of pavement strengthened. All the footpaths will be upgraded, new road paving and provision of a car park, new street furniture and road signage and landscaping and planting will all be featured in this project.

Bus stop facilities will be provided on both sides of Main Street in front of the courthouse. There will also be provision for dedicated loading bays on Main Street and on the Ballyjamesduff Road.

There will be a major realignment and upgrade of the current Y junction in the town. This will involve the construction of a roundabout at the Ballyjamesduff junction in the town. This roundabout will also facilitate U-turns on Main Street.

In addition, the slip road to Ballyjamesduff will be closed and will be turned into a car park facility outside the Mason’s Apron. The ornate pump and well will be retained, with a creative design evolving around this feature.

There will be seven car parking spaces located off the roundabout at the Ballyjamesduff Road and opposite the courthouse. The local authority see this area as a valuable amenity area, or town space plaza. It will be a single level civic space and the use of similar paving, retractable bollards, will allow the space to be used for events when required.

The scheme offers opportunities to enhance the visual streetscape setting. There will be provision for controlled pedestrian crossings along Main Street and its junctions and wider footpaths.

Enda Murphy reading from the detailed plans explained that the main objectives are to improve pedestrian safety, to achieve speed reduction and to provide a full pavement reconstruction throughout the extent of the scheme.

The proposed traffic calming and pavement scheme is consistent with the Cavan County Development Plan 2014-2020.

When it went to public consultation there were no objections, and just two observations; one which called for street bins to be a part of the street furniture in the town. The other expressed concerns about disturbance and noise that the proposed scheme will bring during construction, particularly at night.

Senior Executive Engineer Road Design, Brendan Smith speaking on behalf of the design team thanked all involved in getting the project out of the “starting blocks”.

New Car Park behind Garda Station

Executive Engineer Enda Murphy had more good news for the meeting when he revealed that a separate contract is about to be awarded for the construction of a new car park behind Virginia Garda Station. The works are expected to commence before Christmas and it is hoped to have it completed before the new Town Enhancement scheme commences. Additional car parking spaces will also be provided at the new library building.

He said that the total number of parking spaces in Virginia including the Main Street at present is 121. That will now rise to 188.

Cllr Shane P. O’Reilly said this project for the transformation of the Virginia Town street scape was “a very good news story, in the midst of all the doom and gloom around at present”.

He added that it represents massive investment in the town and he thanked the Road Design Team with Cavan County Council for their creativity and vision.

Cllr T.P. O’Reilly also warmly welcomed the go ahead for this highly significant scheme for the town, both in terms of enhancement and the level of investment going into the town.

The additional car parking facilities at the new Library and the new Town Car Park behind the Garda Barracks will also be a major asset for the future of the town.

Chairman Trevor Smith also complimented the Council Design Team on the creation of this most impressive plan for the town.

“I would also like to commend the council on the manner in which they carried out the consultation process which took place locally. As a result, there were no objections to the scheme and two observations.”