No funding for repairs to dangerous Laois road with 'glaciers' breaking through surface

Safety concerns on a busy section of road in a Laois village must be addressed immediately, as one local councillor has warned that some parts of the road have risen "almost like a glacier."

Numerous people living on the L1596 road at Keelogue Glebe in Pike of Rushall have reached out to councillors about serious safety issues on the road. 

Councillor Conor Bergin raised the matter at the January meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory / Mountmellick MD, urging Laois County Council to address the problem "as a matter of priority."

Rory O'Callaghan, Senior Executive Engineer with Laois County Council, told Cllr Bergin: "This road is not included in the 2026 RI Roads Programme. It will be considered for inclusion in the 2027 Programme. All works are subject to available budgets and resources."

Cllr Bergin admitted that in hindsight the road should have been part of this year's programme, saying "it's gotten very bad."

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He explained that the road sees a lot of traffic being the main road from Castletown to Ballacolla as well as the number of houses located along it.

Cllr Bergin told the council: "There's one section of the road that's gotten really bad, where the road has actually come up from beneath the surface nearly. It's almost like a glacier or something coming up from under the road. You can see the surface has risen. That does need to be repaired. It is very bad."

The Fine Gael councillor requested that it be looked at for resurfacing works next year, but in the meantime that something be done about the worst sections of the road. 

Cllr James Kelly supported Cllr Bergin's motion, reiterating how dangerous the road is particularly at night.

A regular user of the road, Cllr Kelly said: "You really have to go slow on that road, it is so dangerous."

He agreed that the worst affected parts of the road should be looked at in the immediate term, but accepted: "It's going to be a very expensive operation for 2027."

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme