Mayo residents annoyed at traffic being diverted through their village due to N5 roadworks
Castlebar Municipal Council has agreed to write to the National Roads Authority over what members described as a lack of consultation with local residents ahead of resurfacing works on the N5.
The works, which cover a 3.5km stretch of the N5 between Castlebar and Ballyvary at Liscromwell, began on Monday, September 15, and are expected to continue for seven weeks.
Currently, drivers coming from Castlebar or Westport, heading towards Ballyvarry, will be diverted via the L5785 road to the L1719 road, which runs through Turlough. There are signs and traffic management operatives in place.
The diversion brings traffic through the village, past the National Museum of Country Life and Horkans Garden Centre.
Local representatives say the volume of cars, particularly at rush hour, is far greater than usual for what is typically a quiet village.
The N5 is one of the busiest routes in the county, linking towns such as Swinford, Ballina and Foxford with Castlebar and Westport.
The diversion has moved that heavy flow of traffic onto L roads, which typically serve only local communities and lighter volumes.
Local councillor Michael Kilcoyne raised the matter in the September meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District Council.
He proposed writing to the National Roads Office to say it was “not good enough” that there was no consultation over the fact that thousands of cars had been diverted through the quiet village.
“There was no consultation with the local people, and local people are upset about it,” he said.
Cllr Harry Barrett agreed that there has to be more consultation with people when that amount of traffic is being diverted.
“I’ve had constituents who live on that road tell me about a stand off at one point where the system broke down, where the monitoring wasn’t in place at around 4:45 one particular Thursday,
“Two large container trucks met each other in the middle of the road, blocking up both sides, and nobody knew what to do,” he told the meeting.
“There has to be consistency, there has to be monitoring, and most importantly, there has to be consultation. People were livid when they found out the extent of how they were going to be impacted,” he added.
In response to this, Cllr Kilcoyne said the council should also request a written report on where the traffic management system broke down, and what regulations were not followed.
Cllr Al McDonnell said he was "gobsmacked" to learn that the roadworks would cover 3km of national road and last seven weeks, adding that he thought the timeframe was "extraordinarily long".
Cllr Blackie Gavin highlighted that updates on road closures and planned works are now issued online, through the Mayo County Council website and social media channels. But he pointed out that many elderly residents in Turlough are unlikely to go online to check for those updates.
“Communication is crucial. Go out and talk to people. Someone from national road design here in Castlebar should’ve gone out and talked to the residents,” he said.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.