Speaking in Dáil Éireann the newly elected north Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Mr Ryan O’Meara, has concurred that the town of Thurles is being strangled by traffic issues; requiring immediate attention for an inner relief road. Same, if funding was provided, would link the N62 at Slievenamon Road to the Mill Road, thus providing a third vehicle bridge.
[Funny that, VIEW HERE. Back in 2021, we here in Thurles were previously informed that funding had already been acquired.]
However, many residents believe that Mr Ryan O’Meara has been fed false or inaccurate information and most business leaders see the proposed inner relief road as further waste of public funding.
An inner relief road already exists via the Mill Road, same entering and exiting south of Thurles at Turtulla Cross on the N62, which has seen 3 vehicles crash and be written-off, within the past 12 months.
Any new inner relief will only permit the exit and entering of vehicles closer into the town centre, with HGV traffic still required to travel to the four corners of Ireland, directly through our medieval streetscapes, which for the past 4 years have become a bottle neck, currently existing for all vehicles attempting to pass through Thurles town centre.
The only piece of common sense and perhaps even a small glimmer of hope was expressed by An Taoiseach, Mr Micheál Martin TD, responding to our misinformed, raw recruit, Mr Ryan O’Meara.
Mr Martin stated that the long queues of traffic being experienced, would become a thing of the past, if Thurles had a ring road/bypass and he would try to feed that into an expected review of the present National Development Plan.
As for Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Ryan O’Meara’s speech interjection in Dáil Éireann; same was perceived and smelled of the scent of a vote catching press release, same greedily accepted from his Nenagh office by local press, who were obviously experiencing a slow news day.
https://tippfm.com/featured/bypass-thurles-will-take-20-years-completion-2/
The inner relief road and bypass in Thurles will not be done by 2040.
This was revealed at this week’s Thurles Municipal District Meeting, following updates from a meeting between councillors and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).