by Alan Jacques
LOCAL Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler has described the ongoing roadworks to replace water mains on Limerick’s Dooradoyle Road as a “fiasco”.
The works began last September, however local residents and business people raised questions about the timing of the project, asking why it not been carried out during the summer when the schools were off.
According to Cllr Butler, the works to replace the existing mains, which have burst several times, has been a story of “bad timing and management” since day one.
“A call was made that the mains needed to be worked on urgently so they pushed ahead in September with a ten week timeline for the works to be completed. We accepted that very reluctantly.
“We are now six weeks over that deadline and works are still ongoing. Dooradoyle has always featured heavily in traffic reports. But in recent weeks, it is featuring more prominently”, he claimed.
With the Crescent Shopping Centre, Limerick City and County Council buildings, Crescent College Comprehensive, Garryowen Rugby Club, An Gaelscoil Raithin and numerous businesses in the area, the road has exceptionally high traffic volumes.
“Kilteragh, which is one of Limerick’s biggest estates, is on the Dooradoyle Road and residents there have been complaining on social media about the situation and the serious effects it has been having on their lives,” he explained.
According to Irish Water, most of the work is now complete and it is expected that the entire project will be finished by the end of next week. To minimise disruption during this period, road-resurfacing works will be completed during nighttime hours towards the middle of next week.
“Poor water pressure and high levels of leakage have been ongoing issues in Dooradoyle for many years and Irish Water is now working to fix this issue. Once completed, these works will mean the residents of Dooradoyle will have a water supply they can depend on.
“Any such works are going to result in some disruption but we are trying to keep these disruptions to a minimum. Due to the very high volumes of traffic in the area and in order to minimise disruption to motorists, working hours have been restricted to between 9.30am and 3.30pm.
“The works are also taking longer than envisaged due to the level of other utilities that have to be worked around in order not to cause any damage”, the statement from Irish Water explained.
