Waterford roads being left in ‘awful condition’ amid ‘patchy’ roadworks

Waterford roads are being left in an “awful condition” amid “patchy” roadworks, a council meeting has heard.

The issue was raised by Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Burke at the January plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Burke said: “Uisce Éireann are doing works at the moment which are very welcome around the county.

“They’re linking water supply to various plants and all that jazz, but the roads are being left in an awful condition.

“They’re not resurfacing the roads after they’re finished, they're patching them up. Some of the roads are looking like they’re big massive zebra crossings. It’s really odd to see.”

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She enquired as to what action the council might be able to take to alleviate this problem.

Cllr Burke asked: “I just wonder as the council, I know we’re not responsible for this, but could we have a contract when we’re giving out these contracts to people doing the roads, that they resurface the roads properly when they’re doing them up?”

In response, Director of Services Gabriel Hynes said that such contracts are already in place.

Mr Hynes said: “Just to be very clear about it, anyone that does any work on our road network is required to have a roadworking licence.

“As a part of that, there are strict requirements. Initially what you see happening is the temporary [work being] done.

“There needs to be a period of time for that trench to settle before the permanent work is done.”

He estimated that it could be a year before the final resurfacing work is completed on the roads in question.

However, Mr Hynes reassured councillors that the council will carry out inspections to make sure this work is done properly.