Need for upgrade of N81 pressed upon Minister for Transport during visit to West Wicklow

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has described the Minister for Transport Shane Ross’s visit to West Wicklow as ‘Useful’ and that he hoped the Minister took something from his visit to look at the safety concerns along the N81. The Minister also met with locals and heard their concerns.

Teachta Brady said “I welcome the Ministers visit to Blessington on Monday to look at the many safety issues along the N81. The visit was arranged as part of the ongoing campaign to have the decision to reverse the cut of funding for the N81 upgrade.”

“The Minister met with a number of public representatives and locals. All pressed upon the Minister how critical the upgrade of the N81 is for road safety and the growth of West Wicklow.”

Teachta Brady continued “The Minister was very noncommittal; he said that the €271m needed for the upgrade wasn’t easily found. I pointed out that you can’t put a price on a life and that too many lives had been lost on the N81. ”

West Wicklow Sinn Féin representative Aidan Kinsella said “The N81 needs to be made a political priority. In Wicklow we have four Government TD’s, two of which are Ministers. When Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil sign off on their agreed budget for 2019, they need to substantially increase funding for Transport Infrastructure Ireland to allow this critical project to proceed.”

Teachta Brady concluded “The safety, growth and economic development of West Wicklow can’t be put on the long finger. We have been told that it will be 2027 at the earliest before the project is relooked at. Hopefully the Minister learned something from his visit to West Wicklow and that he seen firsthand how important the upgrade is.”