Upgrade to Limerick road which has ‘taken battering over new bypass’

COUNCIL bosses are planning significant upgrades on a regional road which has “taken a bit of a battering” due to construction vehicles redirected onto it.

Due to the closure of the Birdhill to Killaloe road, in order to facilitate the building of the new river crossing, which forms part of a new bypass, construction drivers have used the R525.

Local councillor Michael Murphy of Fine Gael says the condition of the road, particularly between Daly’s Cross and Montpelier has “deteriorated” as a result.

“It has taken a bit of a battering now. All the traffic has been diverted this way during the construction of the bridge. At the peak of the construction, there were around 50 truck movements an hour,” he said.

The new crossing is taking shape, with the first steel beam being laid just before Christmas.

The structure is 40 metres long and weighs 40 tonnes, with a 500-tonne crane deployed to lift it into place.

Mike Richardson, a senior engineer in the roads department of Limerick City and County Council confirmed that a 1.7km section of the R525 will be improved as part of the 2024 reconstruction programme for the metropolitan district.

In his written answer to Cllr Murphy, he added: “This road will continue to be monitored and considered for further road maintenance plans if required pending on future budgets availability and its order of priority within the overall road network in the area.”

The R525 was no stranger to heavy goods vehicle movements, said Cllr Murphy - but this is on another level.

“Traditionally, there were a lot of quarries here, and there was a lot of truck movement over the years as a result. But nothing to the extent of what is happening this time,” he said.

Cllr Murphy highlighted one junction at Coolready as being particularly bad.

The Castleconnell man said despite the extra traffic on the R525, he welcomes the Killaloe bypass and bridge.

“In time, the bridge will be a major plus to the area. The new road will take a lot of traffic off our roads here,” he said.

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He welcomed the commitment from the council executive to do the upgrades on the road.

“I was happy enough with the answer. They’ve set out to do a good section of the road this year. But they didn’t have much of a choice really. It has deteriorated quite a lot. There a few particular spots on it you wouldn’t want to be speeding over,” concluded Cllr Murphy.

Elsewhere, at this month’s metropolitan meeting, Labour councillor Conor Sheehan was told the National Transport Authority has funded €69.5m for the repair and replacement of roads and footpaths across the last five years.
new walking and cycling bridges, and new pedestrian crossings.

The repair and maintenance of existing footpaths is funded by Limerick City and County Council's own resources.