Almost €1m to fix Cootehill's Station Road
Works to begin in May-June.
A figure of close to €1 million will be spent repairing the potholed surfaces on Cootehill's Station Road, including implementing a range of measures to make travel safer for both pedestrians and cyclists in the area.
Along with €256,000 secured from the council's own coffers, the first roads project of this scale to receive such benefit in more than a decade, a further €700,000 will be spent under the Active Travel Scheme to develop a new network of footpaths, cycle lanes and street lights.
The works will be carried out on the near two kilometre stretch from the Post Office on Market Street to St Aidan's Comprehensive.
Earlier this year the planned project received €300,000 from the National Transport Authority.
The works will begin sometime from mid-May to early June, with work on the footpaths to start first before the overlay is applied in August.
The proposed investment will solve a long running issue regarding the condition of the stretch of road exiting the town, as well as safety concerns between St Michael's National School and the nearby Comprehensive, especially during times of high traffic.
“Its massive for the town,” says Fine Gael's Carmel Brady, who with Fianna Fáil council colleague, Aidan Fitzpatrick, lobbied the local authority executive to act on the matter.
“Its one of the busiest roads in the town,” acknowledges Cllr Fitzpatrick, who estimates that there are close to 1,000 children arriving to school or being dropped off during morning rush hour, and this is repeated in the evenings also.
“A very important part of this is getting the proper footpaths, the proper cycleways in place. Safety is paramount, and that goes for motorists too, with the surfaces being done as well. The surfacing is being funded from the council's own resources and the department. That was decided at our Municipal District meeting in March.”
With written confirmation received that the works will soon take place, Cllr Brady is quick to thank their fellow elected members for their support for the Cootehill road project.
But she said the matter has simply “gone on too long and something needed to be done”.
Cllr Brady explains the success of the wealth of industry that resides within the environs of Cootehill is predicated on the support of a proper road network.
“We're a very industrious town, with Abbotts, PQE, Precision Engineering, Abcon, Mastek and Carlton Bakery, and they rely on the roads for supply for manufacturing. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to make this happen, pressure had to be put on, but we're thankful to get to this stage and thankful the works will start soon.”