Councillor Frank McBrearty has defended the €50,000 cost of constructing the new pelican crossing in Raphoe.
He raised the issue at today’s monthly meeting of the Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District.
Following the disclosure of the cost at the January meeting, there had been some negative comments, mainly on social media.
However, speaking today, Cllr McBrearty said the ‘bad PR’ was not fair.
“The bad PR on the Raphoe pelican crossing was simply not fair,” he said.
“What some people don’t realise is the cost of construction works has increased considerably. I would like to thank the council men and the contractors for the good work they did there. I want to make clear the good work done there.”
However, he said, it was the fault of the electric supply company for the lights at the crossing not being switched on.
The council’s Area Engineer, Claire McGeever, agreed with Cllr McBrearty that the works were of good quality and cost effective.
“We pushed hard for funding for that crossing and it was a very good job that has improved pedestrian safety,” she said.
“We have no issue in relation to what it cost. Signalised pelican crossings are very expensive and this (Raphoe) was a very reasonable cost – we would like to see more of them.”
Ms McGeever informed Cllr McBrearty she would follow up in relation to the lights being switched on.
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