Seven or eight years is too long to wait for an upgrade of the N24 main Waterford to Limerick road.
That's according to Cllr Pat Dunphy who is a local representative for the Piltown Electoral Area which takes in South Kilkenny and Ferrybank.
The project is currently at Phase Two of early planning with routes yet to be decided, and no finish date in sight.
Cllr Dunphy said wait reminds him of the current timeline for the National Broadband Plan and is calling for the process to be sped-up.
"Something that is going to take seven, eight, nine years - that's ridiculous in my view and far too long to wait
"I know there are plenty of assessments but a lot of those things - with the will being right - could be done much quicker.
"It reminds me of the National Broadband Plan taking seven years which people only laugh at - it's far too long to put in important infrastructure," Cllr Dunphy said.
'Accident blackspot'
Additionally, locals have reported up to 15 crashes on one bend in the road so far in 2021 near the village of Mooncoin.
The section of the road known as the Carrick Road is locally referred to as an 'accident blackspot' with a number of fatal road traffic collisions occurring on the route.
Pat Dunphy said the number of accidents taking place on the section of the road N24 is concerning and hopes recent works conducted by the council will make a difference.
"There have been about 15 accidents there this year to date and the ultimate cause of those accidents is speeding approaching the village of Mooncoin and then suddenly there's a little bit of a bend.
"Vehicles seem to skid there very easily and cars have been somersaulting and turning over - we're only lucky we didn't have a fatality there recently."
"The TII has thankfully resurfaced that section of the road there in the past week with a particular type of surface that vehicle's wheels are supposed to grip to a bit better - so we hope that will make some difference," Cllr Dunphy said.
Potential Routes
The project has been identified for progression through pre-appraisal and early planning under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 however no funding has been confirmed to date.
Kilkenny County Council as the lead authority has appointed Arup as Technical Advisors to progress the Planning and Design for the project through Phases 1 to 4 of the TII Project Management Guidelines.
The current Phase Two of the project the called the 'Options Selection' is analysing the potential routes the new road from Waterford to Limerick could take.
Cllr Dunphy said People living north of the River Suir will be affected by routes in the coming years but they have yet to be decided.
"What we do know about the route is that there is a study area that basically goes approximately 8km north of the River Suir.
"Everything village and town within that area including Kilmacow, Mooncoin, Piltown, Carrick-on-Suir all the way up to Cahir is the study area and those particular options could go anywhere through those parishes," Dunphy said.
Where can you have your say?
While public consultation meetings on the proposed development of the route which were due to take place in November and December have been postponed until the New Year.
The date for the consultation is now January 2022 and they are expected to last for a total of six weeks.
"All representatives in Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Limerick have been very active on this over the past number years.
"It's the main route between two major cities and it also takes the Rosslare traffic to the west of Ireland and it's not a road people enjoy travelling on because it's not fit for purpose in this day and age," Cllr Dunphy concluded.
Updates on the progress of the route can be found on n24waterford2cahir.ie
