by Caoimhín Rowland
An elected member of Mayo County Council has claimed there have been 11 accidents on the new N5 road between Turlough and Westport since its opening.
Speaking at a meeting of the council’s tourism strategic policy committee, Councillor Michael Loftus said the information was furnished to him by an elected colleague – but it was not officially verified at this point.
Councillor Michael Kilycoyne shared concerns over the Islandeady sector of the road as it would take emergency services a long time to make it to the scene of a crash due to access issues.
Councillor Christy Hyland also spoke out against the ‘nay-sayers’ quibbling over the price of the project. Instead of worrying about a couple of hundred million, he remarked we should have ‘spent a billion, not 300 million’ in Mayo and upgraded the N17 road also.
Hitting out at Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, Hyland asked: “Do we not count in the west?”
The western rail corridor and N17 upgrade – both vital pieces of infrastructure for the county and wider region as a whole – seem to be on pause.
The controversial green party leader is expected to visit Ballina next month for the Mary Robinson Climate Conference.