Parents, commuters beware as water work to begin on road near Laois school and station

New pipes are set to be installed in Portarlington on the busy Canal Road but it could cause some disruption for parents commuters and others as the serves a big school and is located near a busy train station.

Work is set to begin shortly replacing approximately 650m of aged water mains in Portarlington with new modern pipes along the road to the south of the town. The road is located near the town's train station, GAA club, Odlums Mill as well as Scoil Phadraig BNS. There are also many houses in the area.

Fianna Fáil TD for Laois-Offaly, Barry Cowen welcomed the work. He said it would result in a more reliable water supply and reduce the amount of treated drinking water lost to leakage.

"These works are a critical step in conserving our precious resource and reducing high levels of leakage which have been a significant source of disruption and outages for many residents in the area," he said.

While welcoming the project he advised people that disruption is on the cards as the project could take up to two and half months.

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"To facilitate the delivery of the upgrades, motorists should, unfortunately, expect some traffic disruption. However, the benefits of the works will hopefully outweigh the inconvenience and I very much welcome this significant step forward,'' he said.

These works are being carried out by Ward & Burke Construction in partnership with Laois County Council on behalf of Uisce Éireann. The project is due to commence on Monday, 13 February and is set to be completed by the end of April 2023