Upgrade urgently needed for Carrick town centre estate

Cllr Paddy Farrell asked when public realm works in St. Mary’s Close in Carrick-on-Shannon are expected to be completed and urged that every avenue be pursued to find funding to complete this estate and the main centre of the town.

Cllr Enda Stenson, who chaired the meeting, had a similar motion down in which he asked about the plans in place to upgrade footpaths and roads in St. Mary’s Close.

He stated that the "area has become extremely busy, and works need to be carried out here. We urgently need to put a plan in place for future upgrades." 
A report by Roads said that St Mary's Close was not included in the urban regeneration of Carrick-on-Shannon and the council have met with the local community living there and advised them of the options and avenues which it can proceed with.

The response continued that the Active Travel department were consulted and they advised that the funding scheme would not apply to these works.

It continued, "If footpath grant aid becomes available, then I will be putting this scheme forward for funding. I also advised the community that the roads department will be seeking RIG funding in the next three year plan (2025 to 2028). This will allow the road to be reconstructed but cannot be spent on footpath upgrades. The ESB/Eircom and public lighting will all have to be undergrounded to allow proper development."

It also noted that the district office has carried out "small footpath repairs to the area and introduced parking chocks to prevent cars parking on the footpath. We have also upgraded the public lighting to LED lighting."

Cllr Stenson said there aren't enough parking spaces and asked if there was another form of funding through which the area could be "upgraded". 

Cllr Finola Armstrong-McGuire said she would like to see the footpaths improved and currently, "I avoid the footpaths and walk on the road."

Darragh O'Boyle, district engineer, said that the area was "left out of the urban renewal works" and to carry out the works described above, "it's going to take a lot of funding but if the funding becomes available, we can apply it up there."