Athgarvan road widening gets green light

 A long-awaited road widening at Athgarvan will be undertaken in the coming months, councillors at the July meeting of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District heard. This follows confirmation received by Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer that a Part 8 planning for the project is still valid.

The stretch is a very narrow section from Athgarvan Cross towards Newbridge before it opens up to the wide road going under the M7 motorway bridge. "People have been waiting over 20 years for this," the councillor told the meeting on foot of a motion she had filed relating the the Part 8. "The number of broken wing mirrors in the ditch shows just how bad the stretch is, and local people won't walk or cycle on it because it's too narrow."

Cllr O'Dwyer was informed that Part 8 planning permissions, by which local authorities grant permission for their own works, 'don't run out'. "This is great news. The existing Part 8 can be used to facilitate delivery of the road widening. This is a final step for a project I have been working on since being elected in 2019."

The councillor was told by the Roads Projects Team that tender documents for the work will be prepared with a view to appointing a contractor before the end of the summer. The work will provide a footpath and better road from the cross to the wider section of road, and there will be full engagement with relevant landowners about boundaries.