Option A - The Red Route
Our house is [Redacted: Personal Information], although this is a small section of the proposed route the road I live on is common to each route option (Red, Green, Yellow & Blue) being considered by Eirgrid. In short, regardless of the option choosen by Eirgrid My home and those on this road will be impacted. Thus my concerns are grave. In addition, my concerns are not based on perceived issues but on real issues as another contractor saw fit to "close" the road I live on. "Local Access" was a joke and the state of the road as well as the alternate diversion routs deteriorated so badly that private cars needed to travel them continue to receive substantial damage because, works vehicles, articulated lorries, agricultural machinery gouged up the boundaries of road with ditch creating hazards of 18 inch drops in some places.
My specific concerns are as follows:
1) Lack of communication, a) with residents and b) with operatives on the job. Case in point, operatives maning the road blocks could not or would not tell local residents which alternative divertionary route would allow a home owner back to their home. One of my sons found himself sleeping in his car in a carpark in Rathoath (at 3am having come home from work) as all divertionary routes were blocked and he could not come home.
2) State of the road we lived on was left in such bad condition that the undercarrige of each of our private cars were constantly being scraped because of undulating surfaces which lay unattended with no ramps to help local commuters.
3) State of surrounding "alternative divertionary" roads which had to take all of the aforementioned vehicle types. It must be noted that all of these alternative routes are so narrow that two oncoming cars cannot pass each other, without one giving way by mounting the ditch. This activity becomes more challenging when articulated lorries, agricultural machinary and works machinery must use the same roads. These vehicles do not give way as they may never get back on the road.
4) The section of road we live on serves as a main route for school buses taking primary and secondary school children back and forth between Kilbride and Dunboyne. The practicality of children having to be taken elsewhere to access their buses compounds the travel situation at school times.
5) Access for emergency vehicles will be impacted
6) Most of the properties boundaries on this route directly touch the road that is being dug up. Some of us were obliged under our planning permission to do exyensive drainage works in order to prevent flooding of the road and or the property, I have seen no proposal from Eirgrid as to how to address the disruption to these infrostructure.
While you, Eirgrid may perceive the disruption as "low to moderate" the reality for the home owners on this route will be severe regardless of which option you choose. I suggest serious consideration is given to finding an alternative route to bypass this section of road.