Council reports pressures on budget for road works across county

It’s a constant challenge to find funding for local roads projects in the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, a Kildare County Council official said.
The issue was raised at the local municipal district meeting on September 15.
District engineer Brenda Cuddy said: “We have to cope with the budget we have and prioritise the most important projects.”
The meeting heard that routes with the most daily traffic usually come before less busy roads.
Ms Cuddy also commented that there are a lot of bog roads in Kildare which were impacted by adverse weather conditions during 2020 and 2021.

She also told councillors that the Kildare-Newbridge MD is the biggest of all MDs in County Kildare.

When asked what size budget would she require to cover all works required, she replied: “You could double it and quadruple it and still be able to spend it and not be able to catch up!”

She added: “You're talking about the national roads and the regional roads and all the back roads in the county.”
Road projects during 2021 included extensive drainage works. Other projects were in Newbridge, Suncroft, Cutbush, Martinstown, Rathangan, Monasterevin and Athgarvan.

Earlier in the meeting, the council said there was no funding this year to carry out work to roads around the National Stud and Japanese Gardens.

Councillor Mark Stafford had called on the council resurface all approach roads within a radius of 1km to the Irish National Stud given its importance as a tourist destination.

The council said that these roads are not included in the Restoration Improvement Works for 2021, and that "therefore there is no budget available to carry out the requested works at this time”.

Cllr Stafford said that it was disappointing to see the approach roads to the National Stud “in such poor condition”.

He commented: “For a premier destination like the National Stud, we need roads to be in tip-top condition or else it gives a very poor impression.”

Cllr Stafford also criticised the condition of the old road between Kildare town and Rathangan.