Consultant appointed to address flooded Athy road
Flooding on Athy-Carlow Road recently
IT has emerged that a site on the main road from Athy to Carlow has been added to the emergency works programme for Kildare County Council (KCC) ’s bridge rehabilitation team, after the road was left flooded and in bad condition in the wake of heavy rainfall from Storm Chandra.
The addition of the road to the emergency works programme means that it can be addressed “as part of the current priority works”. This is according to a spokesperson for KCC who issued a statement to the in which they said that “a consultant has been appointed to progress the required assessment of this location, and the associated surveys are scheduled to commence in Q1, 2026.” Once weather conditions permit, the inspection, survey and any remediation work are set to proceed without delay once weather conditions permit. The spokesperson said that “it is neither safe nor feasible to carry out the necessary inspection on site at this time” due to the recent weather.
The spokesperson said that the Athy Municipal District (MD) office jetted the existing culvert to help get water through at the location in an attempt to counteract the issue. They noted that this measure has improved the situation “but has been unable to manage the current water volume and additional measures are required.”
The statement, sent last week, detailed the work that KCC has carried out at the location "over the last two years, sections of this road have been resurfaced and additional line markings have been installed. Water cuts have been opened up and drainage pipes have been jetted”. The statement also noted that sandbags were available, if required, in the Athy MD.
Images from the road, sent to the paper by a motorist who uses the road on a frequent basis, showed substantial flooding. The sides of the road around the ditch areas appeared to be particularly affected, with significant amounts of water and debris visible.
