Roadworks on key artery facing four-month delay

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

 The €10m widening project on Seamus Quirke Road is set for a budget over-run of at least €1m and will not be completed until the end of February – more than four months behind schedule – after being dogged by yet another delay.

The Galway City Tribune has learned the series of problems are likely to add around €1m to the total bill. The Council is currently in discussions with the contractors to agree a programme of works.

This week, it was confirmed that a problem with an existing sewerage main has been uncovered close to the Dún Aras apartment complex and Glen Oaks Hotel.

And “extremely bad ground” has been discovered close to McDonalds and at the Glen Oaks, which have already delayed the project.

They delays are expected to add several hundred thousand euro to the overall cost of the project, and the City Council expect it will not be completed until the end of February.

Already, the project has gone to conciliation in a dispute over traffic management – Coffey Construction was awarded between €300,000 and €400,000 as a result.

Joe Tansey, Head of the Galway Transportation Unit told the Galway City Tribune that the Council is trying to minimise the disruption caused by the sewerage problem, but it “it is not a simple matter, it’s at quite a depth”.

“These are unforeseen ground conditions causing the problems, and the contractor cannot be held responsible for that,” he said.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.