Bad Laois road to be resurfaced this year

A SECTION of the Ballymorris Road in Portarlington is set to be resurfaced this year, following complaints about its poor condition.

Cllr Aidan Mullins told a council meeting that new housing in the area made the need for resurfacing even more urgent.

“It is in poor condition, especially with the construction of new housing at the location,” he told the December meeting of Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District.

He asked that Laois County Council resurface the road from outside the new Ballymorris Green housing development to the opposite side of the railway bridge, in the interest of road safety.

Senior engineer Philip McVeigh said the relevant section of the Ballymorris Road was included in the council’s draft multi-annual road surfacing programme and would be put on the 2025 list of works. He said the stretch of road in question totalled about 400 metres, with 200 metres on each side of the bridge.

Cllr Mullins also asked for public lights along the road to be lit, as he said: “I think the ESB is the problem again, as we are constantly looking for the energising of lights that has already been paid for.” 

Welcoming the resurfacing plan, Cllr Paschal McEvoy commented: “There are a lot of new houses there and it will be a very busy road on both sides of the bridge. The road needs to be done and I’m delighted to see it in the 2025 programme of works.”