Relief road is sought in Mayo tourist town
Cllr Brendan Mulroy has called for the relief road to be progressed.
A councillor has said a relief road planned for Westport over twenty years ago must become a reality to avoid the future growth of the popular tourist town being stymied.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Brendan Mulroy made his comments at the November meeting of Mayo County Council, noting that the road was critical to housing provision in the town.
“This council has always supported road infrastructure into Westport town and the fine job that has been done now with the new N5 road. But Westport is a very progressive town, and we are currently on target for building 500 new houses in five years and again 500 more over the next five years, but to make that happen we need the Southern Relief Road.
“It is a very easy ask because the road corridor is in place and the land sterilised from over 20 years ago, so it is just a case of getting planning permission.
"I ask that this be raised with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and that the council makes an application to the Minister for Transport to see can we get this road done.”
Cllr Mulroy, who is the current cathaoirleach of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, said the situation was more critical than ever now as the town's tourist trade is increasing all the time.
“We all know what’s going to happen in Westport. At the moment we have 80 beds and additional parking going on to a hotel, the Westport Estate project is coming onstream, and there are thousands of people coming in to visit Westport on an ongoing basis.
"One thing worse than traffic is no traffic but to alleviate the traffic problems we do have in the town, and to avoid having them in the future, we need to have that corridor in place.”
He said the planned extension of the railway service from Galway to Mayo will add even further to the town’s popularity, saying: “It is all positive and needs to stay that way, with this road being brought forward. Westport doing well is the whole of Mayo doing well, and the Minister for Transport has the magic formula to unlock the problem we are going to have with the traffic if the relief road is not built.”
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
