Why are the roads so bad in county wexford compared to other counties?

Michelin · 09-06-2010 01:00PM #1

I travel about the country a fair bit and have to say that the roads in wexford are among the worst..there are stretches of road in every county thats in a desperate state but there are also decent stretches also but in wexford a lot of it is in a disgraceful state all over. Do the council and county engineers not give a toss about its citizens and the safety of road users? The one main road in wexford is a total embarrasement also (N11) compare this to other sections of it in wicklow and dublin.

jpb1974 · 09-06-2010 01:09PM

The road maintenance philosophy down here seems to be:

Chuck a couple of shovels of tarmac into hole
Pat 10 times
Wait for it to rain (i.e. the botched fix up disintegrates)
Repeat

I live between Enniscorthy and Oulart... the road was a shambles before the cold patch hit in January... now it's just a disgrace... I have to drive in the centre of the road for stretches of the journey as it's disintegrating at the edges in parts.

The parents live up The Moyne way in Enniscorthy town, the road is a total disgrace... nothing to do with the fact that hundreds of houses were built up this road during the boom and of course not a single thing done to what was already quite an old surface to cater for the traffic which increased 20 fold.

I drove through Glenbrien a while back, shortly after the cold stint, you could literally curl up and lie down in some of the potholes.

No money for roads... only Zombie Banks.

Oryx · 12-06-2010 09:02AM

In spite of all the guff the council came out with at the time, the roads were not gritted properly. If it was done at all it was only after it was needed, and most backroads never saw grit all winter long. That, along with the fact that two trucks and a five man crew can only bodge repair about six potholes a day, and they arent even doing that now.. Means we will have to put up with dirt tracks for roads for a long time yet.

Badabing · 13-06-2010 10:10AM

Labour and Fine Gael run Council so some of the blame lies with their decision making and dishing out the funds.

jpb1974 · 13-06-2010 12:38PM

Labour and Fine Gael run Council so some of the blame lies with their decision making and dishing out the funds.

Yes, and Fine Fail and The Greens run the country so most of the blame lies with their decision making in relation to making funds available.

road_high · 13-06-2010 04:52PM

Are the potholes on the N11 between Enniscorthy and Oilgate as bad as they were a few months ago? I was shocked at the state of them to be honest and was full sure I had punctured my tyre having hit them at 100kmh.

timmywex · 13-06-2010 07:09PM

mfitzy wrote: »

Are the potholes on the N11 between Enniscorthy and Oilgate as bad as they were a few months ago? I was shocked at the state of them to be honest and was full sure I had punctured my tyre having hit them at 100kmh.

They botched them but they aint fully repaired yet....hopefully they will over the summer(talks of early july)

Otherwise theres a main road gone to ****e come winter.

cython · 14-06-2010 04:57PM

Funnily enough, I had been thinking this myself over the weekend. I had seen the state that the roads were in, and while they were worse than the back roads around Kildare where I am most of the time, I thought maybe Kildare was the exception rather than the rule. However, after cycling 100km, mostly on back roads, in Wicklow yesterday, and seeing a much better standard of maintenance on similarly classified roads, it seems like Wexford really is the poor relation when it comes to road maintenance. As already mentioned, the N11 between Enniscorthy and Oilgate is shocking, and definitely in worse state than equivalent, or lower rated, roads in Wicklow

barney 20v · 17-06-2010 05:23PM

the limit there is 80 kmh ain't it?

Goreygal · 21-06-2010 05:40PM

A big problem is the heavy traffic coming and going to the ferry in Rosslare - all those 18 wheelers on one road (N11) cause serious wear and tear.

HillofBadgers · 23-06-2010 10:33AM

The back roads are definite sufferers, because of farm vehicles using them and rushed development of the roads in the golden years. A neighbour of mine in Glynn has had 6 people in the last few months knock at her door with burst tyres and cracked alloys, usually people from up the country. Different roads for tractors wouldn't go amiss. I cycle to work and you feel a lot more things on a bicycle and I find the N11 is the best stretch of road by far.

But for the case of the N11, the council has a drastic solution to the wear and tear of the lorries see http://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Roads/NationalRoadsLiaisonOffice/OilgateRosslareHarbourProject/
This project would entail the bulldozing of many a house and was kept nicely quiet from the public. A public hearing was held but not one word was sent to the thousands of people who could potentially be affected by the development (one of the potential routes passes directly over my house and I only found out about this project yesterday). This money would go a lot better spent on taking care of the roads we have rather than creating something which will drain finances even more. Seems they are giving the man with a mangled leg a new one but leaving the old one as is.
This development would be a lot easier on everyone if house building had been more regulated a long time ago during that dear sweet time.

But I digress, I would say the main reason is general brokeness. With the council very busy spending money on monuments (pikes in bishopswater and elephants in the reeds in ferrycarrig), new offices for themselves and libraries.

Cantona's Collars · 18-08-2010 09:30AM

Here's a puzzle-the road surface between Enniscorthy is atrocious but for some reason the N11 on the north of the town (Dublin Road) is being resurfaced even though it's condition is fairly good.

jpb1974 · 18-08-2010 10:25AM

Here's a puzzle

That's simple -

Page 87, Wexford County Council Road Standards

"If broken don't fix. If fine then fix."

The same logic is being applied to the section of motorway being proposed between Oylegate and Rosslare.

furerer · 21-08-2010 06:19PM

barney 20v wrote: »

the limit there is 80 kmh ain't it?

Who are you?.........the speed warden..........it's 100kph if you must know, although I dont know what that has to do with the state of the roads.

To Goreygal: traffic to and from Rosslare (artics) are not the reason for pot holes.........even though they pay an astronomical amount of road tax..........look at the motorways in the uk where there is TRAFFIC, they are constantly working on some stretch to resurface, a fact which does not happen here.........I believe the road was funded by the eu but the upkeep was not, that's down to local authorities, which as we all know, they DO NOT......they are too busy spending money on personal expenses and holidays abroad under the guise of inter-relationships.

Cantona's Collars · 21-08-2010 07:35PM

Here's a good one-ever wondered why roads through the town are so bad compared to outside of the town? (Well slightly less atrocious anyway)-the NRA is responsible for the national routes but hand over responsibility for the towns to the council,so the N11 running through Enniscorthy isn't handled by NRA.The council funding for roads is dependent on NRA approval so obviously nobody from the NRA travels the roads of Wexford too much.As a National Route from Dublin to Rosslare the N11 between Enniscorthy and Wexford is a disgrace.The N30 is a whole other matter-the last time that saw any decent work was in 1998 for the Tour De France.I suppose the upkeep of said roads will be at a minimum seeing new roads are being started in a few months.
Has anyone driven up along Hempfield lately-that's an experience,should be used by 4X4 manufacturers to test their jeeps.

furerer · 21-08-2010 08:44PM

Aren't governments great at hiding their big asses behind government made groups..............nra, rda, rsa, abc, bbc, itv, tg4, all to get out of responsibility. At the end of the day it's down to the local council, td's, etc. to fight for safe roads, amenities, public transport.........that is why they were elected.....wasn't it? Oh sorry......their trips to wilie wonkas chocolate factory is more important. Was it not the minister for transport who just recently spent over 100,000 euro of tax payers money on 1 of the government jets alone to jet around this country, then pop over to the uk for an urgent meeting with his counterparts.........what the hell is so urgent for the transport minister over in the uk?.........ah yes.........he was learning how to fill in pot holes correctly........

All these organisations, departments, are there to throw you off the scent and send you on a fools errand and hope you get bored and give in.....local people go to their local council or td and THEY should pursue the matter, not put their chins up in the air and say "it's not in our hands" then go off to a big meal at our expense. Let them earn their big salaries and pensions.....and if they feel incapable of doing that........step down and let someone with a backbone move in.

Cantona's Collars · 07-10-2010 08:21PM

A bit of good news regarding the N11 south of Enniscorthy-resurfacing has started at long last.Funny how these major resurfacing projects begin when it gets near the year end and evaluation of budgets and funding allocations.Ah well at least we're seeing some progress.

Goreygal · 07-10-2010 08:33PM

The resurfacing from Scarawalsh to Blackstoops seems to have made the road bumpier than before!

Cantona's Collars · 07-10-2010 09:12PM

Have heard a lot of complaints about that section of road-how hard is it to roll tarmac?

looksee · 10-10-2010 12:44PM

I travel from Waterford to Wexford fairly freqeuntly and I agree. the back roads in Wexford are worse than the backroads anywhere else - Tipp used to have that distinction, but now Wexford definitely takes the lead.

'scorthy · 10-10-2010 08:41PM

At the risk of repeating a post, I said if I got the chance to take a photo to demonstrate the obvious difference between the Wicklow - Wexford border roads, especially on the Carnew-Ferns road...well I took that photo. As I was leaving Carnew/Wicklow, on this very stretch of road, the Council were out again laying down the 200 new surface! I think they're having a laugh. "Oh look, we've so much resources and materials left over that we thought we'de add yet an extra layer on this perfect road right on the Wexford-Wicklow border just for fun!"
My gripe...N11 patchwork quilt of a dirt track entering and through Camolin...Is this the land time forgot??:mad:

jpb1974 · 11-10-2010 08:44AM

That's a classic 'scorthy... who would believe it without seeing it.

'scorthy · 11-10-2010 03:35PM

Thanks JPB1974...and it's NOT trick photography! I only wish I had a better lens to emphasise the obvious difference.

bmaxi · 11-10-2010 05:41PM

I think they are actually trying to save money on roadworks signage, maybe that's to pay for grit this winter.
The road between Riverchapel and Ballycale has had roadworks for a long time now and was closed at Riverchapel for some time. Recently the road closure was moved back to Ballinakill crossroads but still no access to Ballycale.
Today I set off for Ballycale expecting to have to travel the long way around, up to Springmount and was pleasantly surprised to see the road open at Ballinakill, just a couple of roadworks signs, you know, the guy with the shovel.
Every thing was fine, just the occasional sheer drop into a pothole,then about 200 yds from Ballycale, the road is closed.
There are no turnoffs between Ballinakill and this point, so the option was to go back to Ballinakill or take the diversion to Gorey. I mean, WTF, would it be so difficult to place a sign at Ballinakill saying "no through road"? There's plenty of them lying around the county from roadworks that finished years ago and have not yet had the signage removed. What's the deal with that, does every new project have to have new signage while the roads are littered with the old ones, also enough sandbags to replace the beach in Courtown?

doleman2010 · 19-10-2010 06:11PM

The quality of the materials used on the wexford roads ie the stone chippings and filling are inferior compared to other counties , soft and porous stone sourced locally absorbs water and breaks up under normal conditions and when it freezes it just crumbles like a biscuit .
Far better roads even in the likes the nw counties who get far more rain and standing rain on the roads.
WEX COCO and its officials buy the local rubbish why?.

Dinkie · 19-10-2010 08:57PM

doleman2010 wrote: »

The quality of the materials used on the wexford roads ie the stone chippings and filling are inferior compared to other counties , soft and porous stone sourced locally absorbs water and breaks up under normal conditions and when it freezes it just crumbles like a biscuit .
Far better roads even in the likes the nw counties who get far more rain and standing rain on the roads.
WEX COCO and its officials buy the local rubbish why?.

how are you so sure the quality of the material is inferior?

doleman2010 · 19-10-2010 09:09PM

Rekon you must work for either roadstone or the co co , or else you are a townie who doesent have a car.

Cantona's Collars · 19-10-2010 09:35PM

The first frosts of the Winter and the roads still haven't been completely repaired from the last cold snap,only in Ireland.I wonder if the council have stockpiled enough grit and salt for this Winter? A simple look at the weather forecast just like normal folk do would help in their planning.

Why are the roads so bad in county wexford compared to other counties?

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