MAJOR ROAD JUNCTION REALIGNMENT IN BALLYBAY TO START NEXT MONDAY

By Michael McDonnell
michael@northern-standard.ie

Road users, pedestrians and the pubic in general in Ballybay can brace themselves for 12 to 16 weeks’ of disruption in the town as work on the major new realignment of the Clones road junction gets underway from next Monday, 20th June.
Area Engineer Declan McKernan confirmed to Ballybay’s town councillors at their AGM on Monday last that the work is to start at the beginning of next week. The length of time it will take will depend on whether there are any delays and how quickly things can get done, he added. It was hoped to complete the job inside a 12 to 16-week timeframe.
An allocation of €350,000 under the Specific Improvement Grant has been approved for the project, for which Broomfield Construction has been selected as the main contractor.
The work will include the demolition of the building where McAviney’s public house was formerly located as well as the building directly behind it on the Clones road.
A meeting on the project, which will be attended by representatives of the National Roads Authority and the contractor has been scheduled to take place today (Thursday 16th June), where issues like the work programme and traffic management are to be discussed, Mr McKernan told Monday’s meeting.
WELCOME NEWS
Despite the unavoidable inconvenience that it will occasion, the confirmation that the long-mooted project is finally to move ahead will be broadly welcomed.
The members of Ballybay Town Council had made it clear at recent meetings that they hoped the project would be in a position to start early in the summer, in order to ensure its completion before the short days returned.
Concerns that the funding would be lost if the job was not carried out his year had also been expressed.