Locals in Clarecastle are making a last ditch plea to the local authority to postpone works at Latoon Bridge until after the Christmas period.
A small crowd gathered in the area this morning to highlight their concerns over the impact of the closure of part of the former N18 route, which will be closed for the next six months.
Works were at a standstill in Clarecastle this morning, when a small crowd descended on Latoon Creek Bridge, in protest over the closure of the main artery into the town.
The bridge, which forms Part of the former N18 route, will be closed for the next six months, after a routine audit of the county’s bridges revealed the structure was compromised.
Local man Joe Healy has been telling Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill that he fears he will become isolated over the closure.
Residents want the process to be sped up by carrying out the working on a 24/7 basis.
Emlyn Heaps doesn’t understand why the works have to take so long.
Business owners have raised concerns that the closure will have a serious and detrimental impact on Christmas trade.
Pj Keogh insists they’re not trying to halt progress.
While Paul Walsh doesn’t believe locals’ concerns were taken on board.
A meeting was held with Clare County Council last Friday where the local authority outlined the reason why it had not option but to go ahead with the project.
Local Fine Gael TD Joe Carey and Councillor Paul Murphy hope their last ditch effort to postpone the works will be heeded.
Senior Engineer with Clare County Council Tom Tiernan has been speaking with Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill in the past hour about the issue.
He says the local authority has no other option but to push ahead with the project.
Statement from Clare County Council on the matter:
Clare County Council cannot delay the works due to contractual reasons and conditions of funding for the project which stipulate that works commence and funding be drawn down during 2017.
Clare County Council also is expediting the works as the structural capacity of the bridge is compromised and it cannot reliably accommodate anything other than light vehicles until the bridge had been replaced.
Three periods of public consultation took place in the lead up to the commencement of works today, namely the planning application stage during late spring and early summer, the advertising of proposed road closures and works, and the dissemination of information to public representatives, transport operators, businesses, service providers and the general public during recent weeks.
Information Leaflet Distributed locally:
