Glasson/Tubberclair
1 - September 2004:
‘That this Council repair the kerbing and footpath along the N55 between Auburn Crossroads and the junction at Tubberclair Church in the interest of public safety’.
Reply:
These works are currently being carried out.
2 - September 2004:
‘That this Council extends the village speed limit signs at Baylin, Ballykeeran, Glasson, Tubberclair, Castledaly and Ballinahowen to the boundaries of the recently adopted village envelopes and also that it draws up a plan to provide 40 mph ( 64 kph ) speed limit signs on all local roads in the Athlone Electoral area in the interest of public safety’.
Reply:
The Department of the Environment , Heritage & Local Government has set a date for the 20th January 2005 to change all speed limit signs to metric. In this regard the Department has designated a 50 mph speed limit for all non-national roads.
3 - September 2004:
When will this Council provide more litter bins in it’s area?
Reply:
The Area Director requested that specific black spots be identified and forwarded to the Area Engineer for reassessment.
4 - November 2004:
‘ Do the Executive not feel that the Athlone Electoral Area should have it’s own full time procedures and methods in place to carry out verge cutting when required on all our National, Secondary, Regional & Local roads instead of waiting for the Mullingar Area to release their machines?
Reply:
This activity is coordinated by the Director of Transportation & Infrastructure and the matter will be taken up with him to ensure a satisfactory service to the Athlone area in 2005. If necessary the Athlone area will revert to a local contractor.
5 - March 2005:
‘That this Council provide where missing and repair the footpath from Tubberclair junction via Tubberclair National School to Tubberclair Church in the interest of public safety’.
Reply:
Athlone area will carry out remedial repairs to this footpath. There are no specific grant monies available in 2005 to replace this footpath. Cllr. Keena noted the reply and commented that the footpaths were in a particularly bad state. Ivor Kilcline, Area Engineer advised that repair would be carried out in the coming weeks.
6 - March 2005:
When will the village speed limit signs be extended to the boundary of the village envelopes as raised before by me?
Reply:
This matter will receive consideration when the speed limits for the County are being examined in accordance with appropriate procedures to be set out in guidelines from the Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government.
7 - May 2005:
‘ That this Council discuss the special speed limit guidelines recently released by the Minister with the objective of making our roads safer’.
Reply:
This Council has received guidelines from the Department regarding the preparation of byelaws in this regard. A report in the matter is expected to be placed before the Transportation & Infrastructure Strategic Policy committee at their next meeting on the 8th June 2005.
8 - July 2005:
That this Council discuss the need to have development levies collected in the Athlone Electoral Area ring fenced to be spent on projects in the Athlone Electoral Area.
Reply:
This matter will be considered by the full council at it’s next meeting based on report recently circulated to the members. There is no provision for ring fencing unless they are special levies for specific projects.
9 - September 2005:
That this Council as a matter of urgency discuss ways of improving the sightlines at the Auburn Cross junction on the N55 in the interest of public safety.
Reply:
No funds available for the works at the moment. The matter will be referred to Road Design for consideration by the NRA.
10 - September 2005:
When will this Council start the process of putting special speed limits in place at all our schools and also on our local and regional roads?
Reply:
The Roads Section has prepared a procedure for the implementation of special speed limit bye-laws. It is intended that Area Committee would now identify locations where it is considered a special speed limit should apply. All identified locations throughout the County will be referred to Road Design for consideration against the special speed limit implementation policy agreed by the members at the July meeting. This will be followed by a consultative process following which the adoption of the bye-laws is a reserved function of the County Council.
11 - September 2005:
When will this Council present draft lines for the Glasson Bye-pass to it’s members?
Reply:
A drawing showing the proposed route for the Glasson bypass is now available for the members to view. A detailed survey of the area is underway. This will facilitate the development of a detailed submission.
12 - November 2005:
That this Council discuss the need and provide funding in our estimates to repair the footpath from Tubberclaire junction to Tubberclaire Church along road L5465.
Reply:
This item will be included for consideration in the 2006 estimates.
13 - March 2006:
What is the status of the proposed special speed limits submitted by the Area members last Autumn?
Reply:
The Area Office is completing a survey of the speed limit locations as required by the Speed Limits Implementation Policy adopted by the members. Area Office and Road Design will liaise in advance of finalizing the recommendations for the full Council.
14 - May 2006:
Further to the excellent work carried out by this Council in erecting signage in the Athlone electoral area, can this Council now consider a programme of work erecting directional signs at all junctions on our roads in the area?
Reply:
There is an ongoing programme of replacement of directional signs on our local roads in the Athlone Area.
2 - May 2006:
When will we have a report on the proposed special speed limits for the Athlone Area?
Reply:
The Area Engineers are finalizing the proposals for 2006. Each area has had to validate many proposals as a result of the proposals received from members. This validation involves the assessment of current speeds, review of accident history and inspections of the road environment at each location. As soon as all areas have submitted their validated proposals, Road Design will commence the statutory processes for these locations. This is a countywide exercise and thus delays from any one area may cause some delay to the finalisation of draft by-laws. This is necessary because any special speed limits are affected by such by-laws. During the policy formulation process it was considered that the publication of speed limit by-laws more that once a year would not be efficient. We are expecting that this process will be completed 3 to 4 months ahead of the schedule given in the policy document.
3 - September 2006:
That this Council extend the village speed limits to the boundaries of all the unserviced settlements in the Athlone Electoral Area in the interest of public safety.
Reply:
The member’s speed limit proposals are due to be considered at the Second September Meeting of the Council. This proposal will be referred to the Road Design Section for inclusion when speed limits are reviewed in 2007.
4 - November 2006:
That this Council update it’s members on the status of the Coosan/Ballykeeran/Glasson Sewerage Scheme.
Reply:
Consultants have been appointed to prepare the final Design and Contract Documents for this scheme, which will be submitted March 2007. Currently tenders are being sought to appoint a contractor to undertake site investigation on the route of the proposed pipelines and at proposed pumping station sites. Detailed design is ongoing but may be modified based on site investigation findings.
5 - November 2006:
That this Council play a proactive role through both financial and guidance support in enhancing Portlick Amenity area in conjunction with the local community.
Reply:
The level of activity in the upkeep of amenity areas is dictated by approved budget allocations.
6 - May 2007:
When will this Council re-erect the ‘Goldsmith Country’ sign on the Tang side of Auburn Cross?
Reply:
This sign has been ordered and will be erected when delivered.
7 - July 2007:
That this Council discuss delays in presenting the members with a plan for the upgrading of Portlick amenity grounds.
Reply:
This plan is being prepared by the property section and has not been completed. It is hoped to bring this plan before the members at the September 2007 meeting. Identifying a previous commitment date of May 2007 for this plan Cllr. Keena asked would the area be upgraded this year.
8 - July 2007:
What is the delay in erecting the special speed limits signs that were adopted by the Council about six months ago?
Reply:
Athlone Area Office received details of the agreed locations from road design and will arrange the erection of these signs asap. In response to Cllr. Keena it was confirmed that the operative speed limits are as approved in the respective areas but that they are ineffective pending the erection of appropriate signage.
9 - March 2007:
What is the delay by this Council in erecting the Tubberclaire Church and Goldsmith Country signs in their respective areas?
Reply:
These signs will be erected in the coming week.
10 - January 2008:
What is the delay by this Council in presenting it’s members with the Portlick amenity plan?
Reply:
An Architect has been appointed to prepare Amenity Plans for the entire County and is expected to have this plan completed by the end of March.
