Angry councillors slam decision to mothball Southern Relief Road

COUNCILLORS have this week expressed frustration and anger that a vital piece of road infrastructure in Carlow town looks likely to be years away from completion.

At last week’s meeting of Carlow Municipal District, the issue of the town’s Southern Relief Road was discussed, including a section seen as vital to solving the town’s traffic problems – the completion of the L4058, also known as Snoddy’s Road, which runs from the Éire Óg roundabout to the Wexford Road. The last 80m of the road is incomplete, while crucially this section is currently not within council ownership.

On the advice of council officials, the decision was made some time ago to include the completion of the L4058 as part of the town’s overall Southern Relief Road plan, which will link the Dublin Road to the Kilkenny Road and possibly including a River Barrow crossing into Co Laois.

However, councillors are now strongly questioning that decision, given that it will be at least early 2028 before a submission will be made to An Bord Pleanála regarding the Southern Relief Road, and years later before its completion.

It is also understood that developers have expressed an interest in constructing houses in this area, but without a road infrastructure this, too, has been stalled, despite the serious lack of land for housing in the town.

At the municipal district meeting, director of services Padraig O’Gorman outlined progress on the Southern Relief Road following the appointment of technical consultants ROD.

Phase one, a concept and feasibility study, is currently underway, including a public consultation period on the study area, which will be advertised in May and open to the public over the summer months. This will narrow down the route options and ultimately come before the council this September and is then followed by a second public consultation period, which will run to August 2026.

At that stage, all the examinations and evaluation will be considered and a preference route for the Southern Relief Road selected.

The project then moves to phase three – design and environmental evaluation – which will run from August to January 2028.

Mr O’Gorman stated that the local authority was looking to have all the documentation ready for submission to An Bord Pleanála “this time three years”.

In relation to the L4058, Mr O’Gorman said that the road came into council ownership in June 2024, “following a long period of litigation”. He stated that the unfinished section of 70/75m is not in council ownership, adding that to complete the road currently in council ownership and bring it up to standard would cost €550,000. This would include lighting, surfacing works, bridge repairs, footpath repairs and utilities. Mr O’Gorman stated that the council requested this funding from the Department of Transport in 2024, but no allocation was received.

Mr O’Gorman stated that the department’s view is that this allocation would be “premature” until the full evaluation and scope of the Southern Relief Road has been considered.

“God almighty! We won’t even turn a sod on this road in the lifetime of this council. It’s cruel how long it takes … scary,” said cllr Fergal Browne.

“I acknowledge all the work done from our end, but it is ridiculous how long a basic bit of infrastructure takes,” he continued.

Cllr Browne added that one of the questions that would have to be answered is “would the road go the far side of Tyndall College?” adding that the “logical plan would be to have the road going from the Castlecomer Road to the Numbers Road, out to the Leighlin Road and out to the Woodford Dolmen Hotel”.

In relation to the L4058, cllr Browne remarked that irrespective of what route is selected, it is “fairly obvious that the Snoddy’s Road needs to be completed”. He called for the road to be made accessible “straight away”, pointing to the “mounds of clay and concrete bollards that look unsightly”.

“We have to drive on with that 80m ourselves,” he insisted, adding that the fact that council and Land Agency land was lying idle, given the need for housing, was “mind boggling”.

Cllr John Cassin remarked that it all seems like “the road to nowhere all over again” and that we have “learnt nothing”.

“We absolutely have to bring that road into use – the town is absolutely choked up with traffic. The mind boggles at the timeline for a very important piece of infrastructure,” added cllr Cassin.

Cllr Ken Murnane insisted that the L4058 needs to urgently be brought back as a standalone project. “We should never have linked it up with the relief road … we took the advice of the executive and they weren’t able to deliver it,” he argued.

Cllr Wallace also criticised the “bureaucracy and red tape”, while cllr Paul Doogue remarked that there “has to be a way to fast forward this”, adding that he would “like to see solutions rather than obstacles”.

“We have to be careful we are building a road for the future, and it has to be futureproof,” warned cllr Andrea Dalton. She asked if development levies generated from the land banks along the L4058 could be used to complete it.

Mr O’Gorman stated that the local authority had to make the business case for the Southern Relief Road to the department and “we are not at that stage yet, or anything like it”. He added that the council had a very good relationship with the department and that progress was being made.

“There is a large body of work required and a process to be followed over the next three years that cannot be shortened,” he added.

Cllr Murnane stated that he has been contacted by a landowner on the L4058 with 25 acres and “he will never turn a sod on that land until the road is done”.

“We need developers to build houses, and nothing will be developed until that road is done,” added cllr Murnane.