Replacement of Mayo village place name signs cost over €100,000
THE removal and replacement of place name signs at various locations along the old Castlebar to Westport Road has cost €97,578 plus VAT.
The sum, which ultimately comes to well over €100,00, 'absolutely beggars belief', Councillor Ger Deere declared at a meeting of Mayo County Council.
The Fine Gael member has been seeking information on why the village name signs were taken away in the first place, who removed them, and the costs involved ever since they were replaced with road number signposts some months ago.
They had been in place for generations and have since been recycled.
In a response to a notice of motion, he was told the signs were removed due to a requirement to re-sign the former N5 Castlebar to Westport Road after it was reclassified to R309 as part of the new dual carriageway.
According to the Traffic Signs Manual, directional signage at a regional/local road junction should only be provided for local primary roads. So directional signage is only to be provided at the L1710 Cloonkeen, L1813 Aughagower and L1811 Islandeady junctions.
At all other junctions, the local road plate number is to be provided.
It appeared that directional signage has not been provided as required at the Cloonkeen and Aughagower junctions and this will be addressed in the coming weeks.
Councillor Deere was informed that the total cost of the signage retrofit on the R309 was €97,578.05 plus VAT. The cost per junction was €2,700, which includes removal and erection of new/replacement signs at each junction as required.
The remainder of the signage on the route is in accordance with the Traffic Signs Manual.
Responding, Councillor Deere said he still wasn't told who was responsible and he again reiterated that the Castlebar Municipal District will not be footing the bill.
“I am not a bit happy with this,” he stated.
Councillor Michael Kilcoyne agreed it was a pure waste of public money and he wanted a report on who made the decision and that they be surcharged.
The community, who are trying to build up their heritage, are outraged, said Councillor Martin McLoughlin.
Director of services Tom Gilligan said when a road is reclassified there is a requirement that signage be replaced and reclassified. It is part of the procedure.