New €250m N5 dual carriageway set to close again to cut grass verges

Mayo County Council has proposed that the county’s new €250m dual carriageway should close again next month.

There was bewilderment when the new road between Westport and Turlough was closed for five nights for ‘essential works’ at the end of July, especially as the road had only opened a month earlier with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar cutting the tape.

Now Mayo County Council has announced plans to close the road a further five nights between Monday, October 16 and Friday, November 3. The closure is to facilitate grass cutting to verges.

The anticipated closures will occur between the hours of 7pm to 6am. Diversionary routes will be clearly signposted.

Any objections/observations should be lodged in writing to Mayo County Council, no later than September 29.

Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said he is concerned that the route will now be closed on an ongoing basis.

“This raises serious concerns. There is no hard shoulder on it, which was raised numerous times during the construction.

“It was only closed two months ago. How often is this going to be happening?” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

He said he had never heard of this action being taken on similar routes elsewhere in the country.

“There is no point in building a road and having to close it every so often. There is no other road or dual carriageway in the county that I know of that has to close because they have to cut the grass,” he added.