Hi °C | Lo °C THE Government has banned road building with no upgrades, improvements or bypasses to be built across the local and regional network for at least two years.
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said that road budgets will be invested in repairs and maintenance, with extra funding to be allocated to local authorities to help carry out essential works.
Two successive harsh winters and heavy rainfall has resulted in the serious deterioration of road surfaces, with many carriageways suffering from major drainage problems, say experts.
These problems are on top of an estimated €3bn backlog of repairs which have to be completed to avoid roads falling into complete disrepair.
There are some 100,000km of local, regional and national roads across the country, one of the highest in the EU per head of population.
Mr Varadkar said there was "no point" in building new roads when so much of the network was in poor repair."
Irish Independent
