IRHA welcomes extra €50 million in roads funding

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has welcomed the €50 million in funding for repairs and restoration of regional and local roads.

The IRHA says the standard of road surface in some areas across the country has been a cause of concern members and the additional funding will hopefully alleviate the road safety issues which have arisen as a result.

IRHA President Eoin Gavin stated: “Our Minister for Transport must be commended for allocating additional funding for road repairs at a time when available financial resources are limited. As part of this initiative, we would urge the Minister and local authorities nationwide to also address the long standing difficulty of overhanging trees and overgrown roadside hedges which is a significant problem”

He added: “Overgrown hedges create a serious road safety concern for our industry as where a commercial vehicle cannot travel on the correct side of the road, due to the roadside hedge breaching its perimeter, the vehicle has no choice but to move out into the centre of the road, thereby jeopardising the drivers safety as well as other road users. There are obvious cost factors associated with this difficulty in terms of damage to vehicle mirrors etc. but our primary concern is to contribute to a safe public road network>”

Given the short window of opportunity to cut roadside hedges and overhanging trees due to environmental constraints, the Association is urging local authorities nationwide to fulfil their road safety obligation and ensure safe passage for all vehicles on our regional and local routes.