Upgrade sought for 'one of the worst roads' in Mayo

Two councillors joined forces at last week’s meeting of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District to call for an upgrade to a dangerous road on the Mayo/Roscommon border.

Independent councillors Patsy O’Brien and Richard Finn requested that improvements be carried out on the R327 Carrownedian/Tulrahan road towards Culnacleha, citing the dangerous nature of bends and narrow stretches on this road, which is the main road between Claremorris and Cloonfad.

Mayo Co Council engineer John O’Malley said strengthening and overlay works were carried out at Culnacleha in 2023 and 2024 and works will commence to overlay a further 1,500 metres at Tulrahan Bridge. However, he said that funding for these works did not cover widening corners and this would have to come via a Specific Grant from the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

Cllr Finn said the road is dangerous because of the sudden changes in speed it forces upon motorists and it needs to be upgraded.

“This is one of the worst roads in the county that is used by many road users, logistics companies and buses and is a major link road to Roscommon,” he said. “In one area you have a reasonable stretch where you can drive at the speed limit but it gets narrow and you drop to 30 or 40km. The residents have said this road needs immediate upgrades.”

Cllr O’Brien said he had canvassed this area during the general election campaign last November and the current state of the road was a concern for every household he visited.

“We need to get that Specific Grant from the TII and we need to move this on a bit further,” he said.

Cllr Alma Gallagher said she could “wallpaper the council chamber” with the representations she and her predecessor Cllr John Cribbin had received regarding this road.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.