‘Botched and shoddy’ road repairs are slammed by frustrated councillors

COUNCILLORS have criticised some public utility companies for carrying out botched and shoddy repair jobs on roads and footpaths that have only been recently resurfaced by the local authority.

Cllr Noel Collins (Ind) raised a motion at a recent meeting of the local authority and asked why utility companies were allowed dig holes up in newly laid tarmac and said there is no co-operation happening.

‘Why are contractors allowed to leave behind these ripple surfaces such as we have witnessed across the county that rattle the teeth of motorists passing over them?’ asked Cllr Collins.

‘These problems have been with us for far too long and in some cases the repairs are appalling.’

Cllr John Paul O’Shea (FG) said some utility companies are good at repairing roads and footpaths, but others are not so good.

‘We invest an awful lot of money in our new roads and to see them being torn up after a few weeks of it being done is a very retrograde step for ourselves,’ said Cllr O’Shea, who gave a particular mention about Irish Water saying their reinstatement programme is ‘quite poor.’

‘The director of roads in Cork County Council needs to go back to Irish Water to ensure there is a quick turnaround for re-instatements,’ he said.

Cllr Gobnait Moynihan (FF) highlighted the situation at Macroom Bridge which she said is in an appalling state and was due to be re-surfaced but they are still waiting for telecom Eir to remove piping there.

‘As a result you have the Council trying to do patch jobs on it and wasting money, while drivers have to drive over this dreadful surface,’ said Cllr Moynihan.

Cllr Moynihan also mentioned a planned paving programme at Coolcower near Macroom that was due to start in 2018 but is being delayed because Irish Water haven’t moved piping to facilitate these works.

‘Though the lines of communication are open, it doesn’t mean that the work is being done.’

Cllr Seamus McGrath (FF) said there are few things more that annoy people than when they see new roads and footpaths dug up after just been re-surfaced. He called for improved communication so they can avoid digging up new surfaces.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey said that every year they send out details of their planned re-surfacing schedules to these companies and that they are aware of what works are taking place.

‘I’m satisfied that we have everything in place to advise them of our works that we are doing, but you have to allow for unusual circumstances too,’ said Mr Lucey.