Posted online: Jan 11th, 2008

Residents close to the current rail works at Balscott in Celbridge have complained about the state of the local roads in the area since work began.

Cllr Katie Ridge (FG) has contacted the project manager of the improvement works at Balscott, to convey the residents’ concerns.

The residents are having to pull into ditches on small backroads in order to let construction traffic pass. Unfortunately the ditches themselves have been left in a bad state of repair from the same heavy traffic, Cllr Ridge told the Post.

As a result, some of the residents have suffered damage to the undercarriages of their vehicles, she claimed.

Earlier last month Cllr Ridge contacted the project manager and sought assurances that the residents would not have to endure these types of road conditions.
The nearby railway is currently undergoing major improvement works, which will see the two-track line doubled to a four-track system.
“I realise you have to break eggs to make an omlette, and the railworks are long overdue and very much welcomed. But the work has to be carried out in a manner that is in keeping with health and safety practices, and that there is only minimal intrusion for residents.”
She said that some of the construction vehicle drivers were engaging in ‘relatively inappropriate behaviour’ when driving some of the larger vehicles near the site.
Cllr Ridge has put down a motion on the issue for Friday’s meeting of the Celbridge Area Committee of the County Council.

Cllr Ridge is seeking “that the Roads Department ensure that the current rail improvement works at Balscott, Celbridge, are carried out in a manner that ensures the least amount of disturbance, inconvenience and risk to the health and safety of the residents in the vicinity and those passing through it and that this be achieved by regular liaison with the project managers, the transport SPC and the area councillors.”