VEHICULAR access to Skibbereen Community Hospital via Mill Road will be prohibited for three months to allow for the completion of some flood protection measures.
The closure will be in operation 24/7 from Monday July 21st to Friday November 21st to facilitate the removal and replacement of two old stone culverts beneath the road surface, but local access at either side of the culvert crossings will be provided.
Motorists will be directed to take a detour via the Marsh Road and Ballyhilty before doubling back to the hospital grounds for the 93 days of the closure.
Although Skibbereen’s €37.9m flood relief works were substantially completed in June 2019, the issue at Mill Road was one of three projects that were peripheral to the overall scheme.
The other two outstanding works include the upgrading, or replacement, of culverts at Cork Road; and potential surface water flooding at The Cutting, neither having been part of the original major infrastructural scheme.
Previously, the appearance of some surface water on the Mill Road, following very heavy rainfall, led public representatives to raise concerns about the effectiveness of the town’s flood relief system.
They questioned if the surface water pumps were working properly, but local authority engineers assured them that the town’s flood schemeis sound.
The engineers explained that the problem specifically relates to the two large culverts that need to be
replaced.
The three-month closure is deemed necessary because it is a substantial project.
It is to be carried out under contract with the Capital Floods Project Office in County Hall in liaison with the Office of Public Works.
Mill Road will need to be excavated so the old stone culverts can be replaced, but the existing stone-faced flood defence wall will not be altered.
