AN €100,000 allocation to advance the proposed Bantry bypass led to some critical remarks about the glacial pace of the project, writes Jackie Keogh.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Western Division at which the director of roads gave an update about the latest round of funding for local and regional roads.

Mark O’Sullivan said a project outline document, otherwise known as a POD, had been submitted to Transport Infrastructure Ireland by the council’s Regional and Local Road Design Office.

He said: ‘Discussions are ongoing with TII on the best way to proceed.’

Cllr Danny Collins pointed out that funding for the design of phase one was granted in 2023.

He said he had recently attended the annual general meeting of Bantry Business Association at which a couple of people, who has served the organisation for 20 years, had stepped down.

‘Their biggest disappointment,’ he said, ‘is that the Bantry bypass hasn’t been progressed.’

He spoke of people’s frustration at having the bypass frequently discussed but no work being carried out..

‘Hopefully the first section will be done in the next five years,’ he added. Cllr George Gill (FF) also called for a clear timeline.

The roads director said a project outline document must be completed before the work goes through seven stages, including design, planning and construction.

He said there would be a POD for phase one and phase two of the proposed bypass in Bantry before work would be carried out one phase at a time.