Roads Development Programme

National Development Plan for County Sligo 2000-2006

The National Roads Authority (NRA) has overall authority for the planning and supervision of works for the construction and maintenance of the national road network.

The Council received €13,119,190 from the NRA in 2002, which included €11m for the Sligo Inner Relief Route County extension, and €450,000 towards the design of the N4 (Sligo-Boyle) and the N17 (Collooney-Charlestown).

The total budget received from the Department of the Environment and Local Government in 2002 was €8,961,900, which was used for the upkeep and improvement of the non-national road network in County Sligo.

Low Cost Accident Reduction Scheme

Two schemes were carried out on National Primary route N15 in 2002 - In Urlar, Drumcliffe, a hard shoulder was constructed, and also in Rathcormack.

Restoration Grant Scheme

€30million has been spent on restoring the Regional and Local roads network since this programme was introduced in 1996. In 2002 €5,646,000 was allocated to this scheme. Under the ‘Roads Improvement’ element of the scheme, 177 km of roadway benefited from surface restoration, details as follows:

• Regional Roads -

  Surface Restoration 15.00 km
  Road reconstruction 4.25 km

• Local Roads -

  Surface restoration 156.50 km
  Road reconstruction 1.10 km

A total of 88 km of roadway was surface dressed under the ‘maintenance’ element of the scheme - 16km of regional roads and 72 km of local roads

Pavement Strenghtening

Funding of €200,000 was allocated for pavement strengthening along sections of the N59 (Ballisodare - Ballina Road)

Traffic Calming

A traffic calming scheme for Ballisodare was designed in-house and the works were carried out in 2002; Two miniroundabouts were constructed, together with traffic islands and associated markings.

CLAR Programme

The CLAR programme is administered by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs with the objective of redressing the problem of de-population and lack of services in rural areas.

Six road improvement schemes were carried out under the programme, involving expenditure of €260,000 - 50% funding provided by CLAR, 50% by the Department of the Environment and Local Government.

The schemes were -

• L2604 Muingwore - Ballymogheny
• L2402 Owenbeg
• L4601 Carrownaskeagh- Carrownabanny
• L8804 Letterbrone-Culdaly
• L1804 Meenmore
• L1304 Drumcolumb-Emlagh

Work was also carried out under this programme on road 620 at Rockbrook, Riverstown. The cost involved of €40,000 was apportioned between CLAR and the Department of the Environment and Local Government.

A total of €455,000 was received under the CLAR programme for the improvement of Class 3 Local roads.

Low Cost Accident Reduction Scheme for Non-National Roads

Work carried out at Cregg Junction, Rosses Point road, (R291-L3308) involved road markings and new road signage.

Similar work was carried out under this scheme at Rhue Crossroads - Roads 45403 - 4501

Local Improvement Schemes

Forty four Local Improvement Schemes were carried out in 2002, at a cost of €426,000.

Additional funding of €152,000 was provided under the CLAR programme which allowed the completion of a further 26 Local Improvement Schemes in CLAR areas.

Realignment of R291 Rosses Point Road and R292 Strandhill Road

During 2002 work was substantially completed on R291 Rosses Point Road at Ballincar-Shannon Eighter and on the western section of the R292 Tully-Strandhill Road. Much of the work consisted of accommodation works which were carried out both by direct labour and contract.

Work commenced on construction of an embankment at Tully. Over 100,000 cubic metres of material is required to raise an embankment 15m high to bring the proposed road to the level of the existing road at Tully. Applied Ground Engineering Consultants Ltd were appointed to carry out stability analysis of the proposed embankment after site investigations were carried out by Irish Drilling Ltd.

Both these realignments have replaced narrow winding sections of road thereby improving safety and accessability to Rosses Point and Strandhill. The total expenditure on the Rosses Point Road in 2002 was €350,900 and the total expenditure on the Strandhill Road was €603,500.

Realignment of R297 Enniscrone Approach at Kinard

The R297 approach road was narrow and winding and provided a low quality access to a rapidly developing village. A section of 500m from Lynotts Pub towards the village was realigned in 2002. Tenders were invited for construction of the scheme. Seventeen tenders were received and Wills Bros., who submitted the lowest tender, were awarded the contract. Work commenced in October and the new road was open before Christmas.

Preparation of contract documents and supervision of work was carried out by members of the road design team of Sligo County Council. The total expenditure in 2002 was €393,320. In 2003 phase 2 of the works will be carried out to complete the scheme in the direction of Enniscrone.

Mullaghmore Harbour Improvement Works

Mullaghmore Harbour is located along the north Sligo coastline, approximately 17 miles from Sligo town. Originally built in 1841, it is a well established facility for commercial fishing, sailing, sport angling, sub-aqua diving, water skiing, power boating and boat charter. During initial construction of the harbour, the piers were located to accommodate working in the dry at low spring tides, resulting in a tidally restricted harbour with approximately 0.3m of water at the entrance for Mean Low Water Spring Tide.

The harbour relies heavily on the outer breakwater for providing shelter at the entrance area and within the harbour basin. Constructed of dry masonry, the breakwater suffered ongoing storm damage in the eighties and nineties. As a consequence Sligo County Council carried out routine repairs to maintain the integrity of the deck, during 1987 and 1994 in particular. Unfortunately damage to the seaward end became increasingly more serious as large blocks of masonry between seabed and mean tide level were dislodged and removed by wave action, thus exposing the core material to further erosion. This process would eventually lead to progressive and accelerated collapse of the structure.

Sligo County Council engaged consultants Kirk McClure Morton to assess the condition of the breakwater and to advise on suitable remedial works. In addition to the structural repairs to the breakwater, harbour usage and the needs of the variety of harbour users was assessed. The provision of a landing facility with 1.5m at Mean Low Water Spring Tide and the provision of navigation lighting were identified as key issues that should be addressed.

A scheme was designed to encompass the various improvements, considered necessary for the general development of Mullaghmore harbour, which consisted of the following;

• The construction of a new reinforced concrete deck slab and crest wall. This facility includes surface lighting for night time use and a raised level walkway and viewing area.
• The construction of an extension to the existing breakwater, approximately 40m in a southern direction. This extension is a conventional marine breakwater structure with rockfill core and rock armour protection to a crest level of 4.9m.
• The provision of rock armour protection to the northern face of the existing breakwater.
• The installation of a serviced pontoon boarding facility located by tubular steel piles at the end of the existing breakwater. This concrete pontoon (20m by 4m) will be protected by the breakwater extension and will be accessed by a marine grade aluminium bridge from the new breakwater deck. Surface lighting and a fresh water supply is to be provided on the pontoon.
• The provision of a solar powered starboard lateral pile beacon with a range of 3 nautical miles. This navigation beacon is located at the southern tip of the new breakwater extension at 6.04m Ordnance Data.

Various other ancillary works on the north pier have also been included in the project such as, improvements to public lighting, provision of a fresh water supply, resurfacing of the deck and modifications to the access road and slipway. During the design process hydraulic computer models were constructed using the available tide, wave and wind data. These models were used to establish theoretical offshore and nearshore wave heights at the site and thus formulate design parameters for the new structure, e.g. rock armour to withstand waves up to 2.65m with periods between 4.5 to 15 seconds. Any possible impact on the surge in the harbour basin as a result of the proposed new structure was also assessed using these computer models.