Widening work along deadly stretch hits the buffers
There is no chance of movement on a road widening project along what was once the deadliest stretch of national route in the county, despite the fact that the necessary land has been bought and paid for.
That’s because there’s no more money to do the work – and this in turn has led to fears that the original landowners will soon be able to claim squatters rights on the property because of the length of the delay.
It was planned to widen the old N6 road between Ballinasloe and Loughrea close to Cappataggle and a process was put in place in which land was acquired on either side of a two mile stretch.
But Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which acquired the necessary land, has not moved on the road improvement works.
However, Cllr Aidan Donohue believes that this was money badly spent as there has been no movement on widening the road since the M6 motorway was provided. “It was a waste of money,” he added.
The Fine Gael councillor said that he could not understand the logic of acquiring land on either side of the old N6 road when the motorway was being planned.
Cllr Donohue said that the landowners were paid for the property on either site of the old N6 and were yet grazing it. He has now asked Galway County Council officials to investigate the situation.
He raised the matter at a meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal Council and said that the lands were ‘bought and paid for’ without any work taking place.
“It is mind-boggling what is going on. They decide to widen the road and then give up on the idea despite the land being bought”, he said.
There is a stretch of the old N6 that is not governed by an extensive had shoulder. In the past, it used to be dotted by white crosses which indicated the number of lives that were lost at this stretch.
It has been suggested that the development of the motorway has resulted in TII losing interest in this stretch despite it still being a national road.
Senior Engineer Damien Mitchell said that the Council were looking for funding to bring the surface of the road up to acceptable standard. He expressed doubts that funding would be provided for its widening in the present climate.
Cllr Michael Connolly said that there could be an issue of squatter’s rights coming into play. He said that if the farmers were utilising the land for seven years, then they could claim it back.
Mr Mitchell said that he could not say what land had been acquired by the Council but he would find out before the next meeting. He said that he would also find out what agreements were entered into with the land owners.