Funding for local and regional roads cut by nearly €40m

Exchequer spending on regional and local roads has been cut by almost €40 million this year.

Funding of €294 million for 2015 has been announced by Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe. The figure compares with exchequer spending of €333 million in 2014.

However, Mr Donohoe said when a €50 million once-off stimulus package, contained in the 2014 Government allocation, the 2015 allocation is greater.

He also said the 2015 figure of €294 million would be augmented by unspecified spending by local authorities from local property tax receipts.

Moreover, the four Dublin local authorities will fund local and regional roads entirely out of their own pockets in 2015, while the exchequer grant due to Cork County Council is to be reduced by about €5 million.

“When these factors are taken into account, allocations to local authorities this year are up on the 2014 base figures,” said Mr Donohoe.

The 2015 allocation provides for several projects, including increasing vehicle headroom under Lough Atalia railway bridge in Galway city. Other key projects are the rehabilitation of Clontarf bridge in Cork city and a roads project which will support the regeneration of the Moyross area in Limerick.

Mr Donohoe said provision for 175 bridge rehabilitation schemes and 211 low-cost safety projects was also included in this year’s allocation.

The main features of this year’s investment programme include:

• €145 million for maintenance, improvement and strengthening works;
• €41 million for surface dressing;
• €62.5 million for maintenance and strengthening works for which local authorities have discretion on the roads selected;
• €17 million for specific and strategic regional and local roads projects;
• €7.7 million for bridge rehabilitation works;
• €5.8 million for low cost safety works;
• €4.2 million for urban block grant;
• €11m of miscellaneous grants.

Figures for the amount of local property tax which is to be assigned to roads were not immediately available.

A statement issued by the Department of Transport said this year’s allocation would provide for “2,000 kilometres of regional and local road to be maintained and strengthened”.

Last year a similar announcement provided details of the maintenance of 1,910km (1,186 miles) of regional and local road as well as the strengthening of 2,156km.

Mr Donohoe went on to say local authorities were “best placed to assess priorities within their areas and considerable autonomy is therefore given to them under grant headings to decide on the work programme to be carried out in their area”.