Early works have begun to plan a redesign of the Meenaroy Bridge, Donegal County Council has confirmed.
The council is awaiting government funding to repair the bridge on the R250 Glenswilly to Meenaroy road, which has become an accident blackspot in recent years.
The bridge is in such a state that it could be in danger of collapse, according to Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly. Cllr Kelly has made repeated calls for works to be expedited in the area.
“This one bridge, in particular, if it does happen to collapse, it will be an absolute nightmare.
“The sooner we can get this resolved, the better for all road users,” Cllr Kelly told this week’s meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford MD.
Cllr Kelly told the council that he has lost count of how many accidents have occurred at this location.
He called for works to be scheduled on other problematic bridges on the R250.
The drop from a heavily worn bridge on the R250
“There are three other bridges on this road, the bridge walls need to be looked at. The angle at which the walls are pointing at, if you are driving towards them, it’s an absolute death trap. Something needs to be done as soon as possible.
“Another bridge at the bottom of the hill, I believe needs a non-slip surface before it’s too late.”
In advance of the works, Cllr Kelly has asked for an accident survey to be carried out on the road and for an audit to be done on each bridge.
The Meenaroy Bridge is awaiting Specific Improvement funding. The project was ranked number two on the Letterkenny-Milford priority list in 2020. Letterkenny’s Cathedral one-way system received €1million in funding from the National Transport Authority last May, which moved the Meenaroy Bridge to the next place on the list.
Cllr Kelly was told that the council hasn’t received any update on any funding allocation from Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, but in preparation, Road Design have commenced works on the design process.
