Farmers threatened to blockade Wexford village during roadworks as crews cause lengthy delays during harvest season

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Only the intervention of a senior council official prevented farmers from blocking off the N30 while roadworks were being carried out in Co Wexford last month.

The works, which were part of Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s (TII) upgrades on the route, caused serious delays during harvest season for farmers and almost ended in a stand-off in the village of Clonroche.

Explaining how the roadworks impacted the community, Councillor Bridín Murphy said she, along with the New Ross district engineer, was called to mediate as tempers flared.

“There was a lack of communication during the works on the N30 in Clonroche,” she said at the September meeting of Wexford County Council. “I was contacted by businesses during those works and they were genuinely angry. I accept the works were necessary, and I welcome the investment in the area, but the communication with businesses and people affected just didn’t exist.”

Those businesses, according to Cllr Murphy, were blocked in by lorries which parked outside their entrances while the works took place.

“There were access problems, lorries blocking gates, at one stage ten lorries were blocking the entrance to a business,” she continued. “I was called because they were refusing to move. The businesses lost passing trade.

Cllr. Bridín Murphy elected Leas Cathaoirleach Wexford County Council. Photograph Patrick Browne

“And the timeline kept moving. The works were meant to last a month, but it ended up being double that. There was no notice apart from the map alerter, nor was there was any communication or consultation.”

The works, which saw the N30 resurfaced between the R730 Kiltealy Junction and the R735 Adamstown Junction, commenced on June 18 and, following two extensions, were only completed on August 26.

A stop and go traffic management system was in place on the N30 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily for the duration.

Coinciding with the busiest time in their calendar, perhaps the most impacted cohort of people were local farmers who, Cllr Murphy said, were willing to take drastic measures to resolve their issues.

“The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) also contacted me as this was happening at the start of the harvest, the district engineer had to intervene as they were planning on blocking the road,” said Cllr Murphy. “The journey to the depot, which should have taken ten minutes, was taking over an hour. So they had to hire additional tractors and trailers, at an additional cost.”

With more works scheduled on the N30 in the coming months, Cllr Murphy requested that businesses be directly contacted next time to avoid a repeat occurrence.

Expressing his disappointment, chief executive Eddie Taaffe agreed that businesses in Clonroche “should have been informed” about any potential disruption in advance of the works.

“It’s one thing for an entrance to be blocked while the works are ongoing, but to be blocked by trucks parked up is unacceptable. We will take up these issues with TII and the contractor,” he said.