Letterkenny Link Road a must but FF promises come much to late
Issued : Saturday 22 January, 2011
Labour Party election candidate Cllr Jimmy Harte has said that this week’s announcement by Fianna Fail that they are taking action on the planned Letterkenny Link Road is ;too little too late;.
Harte was responding to Blaney’s announcement on Monday that he was seeking a meeting with Transport Minister Noel Dempsey on the issue.
He said: “The planned Letterkenny relief road, which will stretch from Bonagee roundabout to beyond Arena 7, has been on the agenda for several years. I have been at numerous town council and county council meetings where the route has been discussed and where the cost-benefit analysis has shown that it has qualified under all the NRA criteria. The only missing link now is funding,” he said.
“However Fianna Fail and Niall Blaney TD are a bit late to come out this week and promise action on the issue as they have been in power for 13 years and this was never a priority with them. However, it is the most important link road in east Donegal as it will facilitate the Fanad and Milford areas and Gweedore areas, as well as local traffic in Letterkenny.”
“We are at present depending on the Port Bridge to bring all our traffic in and out of Letterkenny and North Donegal. If for any reason the Port Bridge was to be temporarily closed, then there would be a traffic backlog that would strangle the tourism and economic industries of the town. This would be disastrous for the town and highlights the vital need for the link road.”
“Niall Blaney TD and FF are taking a sudden interest in this project but to date their actions have been less than supportive when it came to producing funding. Now with an election imminent, false promises will be the order of the day and they are trying to butter-up the electorate in the run-up to a General Election.”
