My immediate focus is on Kickham Street, possibly the busiest street in Thurles, with traffic entering from the motorway (East) and from the South via the Mill Road (latter in an attempt to avoid a new set of delaying traffic lights at the Lidl junction near Slievenamon Road & Clongour Road).
Kickham Street over recent years has suffered from faulty planning, arrogance from engineers, and more recently downright, shoddy, construction, courtesy of ‘Tar Stone’ and contractors appointed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). How any of the latter contractors have gotten paid, remains a mystery.
My thoughts are also with the businesses on Stradavoher and Friar Street, as I write this blog. Flooding is among one of nature’s most destructive forces in terms of the irreparable damage and heartache it inflicts on homes and on business owners whose ground floor premises become immersed in flood water, due to the incompetence of Tipperary council engineers.
The most probable responses from Tipperary County Council and their officials, to last Friday’s flooding on Kickham Street; Stradavoher and Friar Street will be “Ah sure hindsight is always 20/20!”, latter a phrase used to describe the fact that it is easy for one to be knowledgeable about an event after it has happened.
Last Friday’s flooding was not a case of hindsight for a change. “Ah sure, hindsight is 20/20” is not an acceptable response or excuse when the problems were already pointed out by Thurles.Info first in August 2019. [See Link Here]. See also Link Here, posted in January (6 months ago) and See Link Here, yet again posted in February (5 months ago), with latter forwarded to all local elected councillors via their email addresses and to Tipperary Co. Council engineers, through their “Customer Service Desk”, [reference numbers T-151500-F3F1 and T-151595-Y1S0.]
Many of the pictures forwarded to Tipperary County Council’s “Customer Service Desk” are featured in the sideshow shown above and were emailed to all local Thurles councillors, with only one County Councillor, Mr Sean Ryan, Littleton, bothering to reply.
We now need more foresight from our Tipperary County Council officials and politicians. Instead of reacting to trouble and challenges after the event, we need them to take action when informed in advance, thus avoiding unnecessary trouble and the wasting of taxpayers money.
According to staff at ‘APEX Surveys’, latter who are currently surveying Kickham Street at night, they say they are unable to tell us if and when issues on the street will be sorted out.
Surely a road survey is not required to clear out a few blocked drains.
In the meanwhile, local school children cyclists and adult pedestrians; do expect to be drenched in water by passing traffic, as you attempt to walk/cycle on Kickham Street. Remember cyclists there is no room for cycle lanes on Kickham Street and note article 13 of the 1997 Regulations makes it an offence to cycle on a footpath, unless you are entering or exiting a property.
So remember also this same inconvenience come election time.
We need massive changes in the ranks of our elected representatives, starting with politicians and ending with local councillors. Same are like computer service providers, they need to be changed often.
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