Local and regional roads in Galway will see €869,683 in extra funding for repair and improvement works over the next two years.
The Community Involvement Grant Programme is run by Galway County Council, together with the Department of Transport and local communities, to perform works on local and regional roads.
The Department of Transport has granted the county council €400,000 for works this year, and €231,000 for 2019. In addition, local communities will provide €30,480 in direct funding and will also muck in themselves, performing works within their community with a value of €208,334.
Seán Kyne, Galway West TD and Minister of State for Rural Affairs, announced the funding for a wide variety of improvement works:
“The partnership approach, involving the county council, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and local communities, will see a range of improvements including sight line improvements, drainage and embankment works, as well as improvements to entrances and the provision of passing bays.”
According to Deputy Kyne the with the additional funding announced this week the Programme will perform improvements to 30 local roads, and 8 regional roads, to the benefit of residents and people passing through rural communities.
However, many of those smaller roads are only rarely used by people other than the ones living along them. Galway East TD Seán Canney says they have been neglected by past roadworks projects.
“The Community Involvement Scheme gets a lot of work done on local roads and minor roads which otherwise wouldn’t be done. Increased funding for CIS schemes was a measure contained in the Programme for Government, necessitated by decades of under-investment in the road infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.”
“This additional funding will allow Galway County Council to bring roads across the county up to an acceptable standard for road users.”
The largest single capital investment being made in a road in Galway under the scheme is €114,286 while the smallest will cost only €1,000.
