Uisce Éireann give the reason for Laois town's extended road closure

Uisce Éireann has given the reason why it has had to extend a two month long road closure in a Laois town.

One lane of Parnell Street in Mountmellick has been closed off to traffic since June 16, as Uisce Éireann dig up the road to replace old and leaking cast iron watermains.

A flashing roadworks sign has issued the new finish date this week in the town. The road is now promised to be reopened on Friday, August 22.

Uisce Éireann told the Leinster Express / Laois Live why they need an extra week.

"We are having to extend the works to 22^nd August as the service connections are taking longer than expected," a spokesperson explained.

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Uisce Éireann had initially said that the works were expected to finish on time by August 15, despite starting a week later than scheduled last June.

"With works now commencing on 16 June, we would like to assure the local community that we do not anticipate the amended start date leading to a delay in the completion of works.

"Uisce Éireann is confident in the benefits this will bring to the Mountmellick community. Replacing these old and damaged pipes will significantly lower the instances of bursts and outages on the network, eliminate existing leaks and reduce the amount of clean water lost into the ground. The works will also improve the operation of the network by reducing the need for frequent repairs to aged watermains, resulting in a positive impact on leakage."