Athlone Relief Road noise levels lead to “suffering” for local residents
A claim was made at the October meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District that residents living along the Relief Road in the town are “suffering every day of their lives, rain or shine” as a result of excessive noise levels.
The claim was made by Cllr Aengus O'Rourke who brought a motion before the meeting calling for the road to be resurfaced next year with low noise material similar to that being used by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in other parts of the country.
Referencing the M20 road in Patrickswell, county Limerick, Cllr O'Rourke said this road was “not due for resurfacing at all” but the work had been done in response to representations, and the difference between the new and old surfaces is “like chalk and cheese” he added.
“The new surface is similar to what I would be seeking for the Athlone Relief Road,” he said, “and every time we raise this issue here it is dismissed by the engineers as not being effective, but I can tell you now it is very effective, the result has been phenomenal in Limerick.”
Cllr O'Rourke said the council could put a new low-noise surface on the Athlone Relief Road “much quicker” than getting their hands on noise reduction barriers.
He said it was something the council could do next year, and urged the council to proceed and give some relief to the people who are “suffering every day of their lives, rain and shine” due to excessive noise levels from passing motorists. “So let's get to it,” he added.
The motion received widespread support, including from Cllr John Dolan, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Frankie Keena and Paul Hogan, with the former noting that the Athlone Relief Road “probably needs resurfacing anyway” and appealing directly to the council executive to “get the ball rolling” on this issue.
Cllr Moran wanted to know why Westmeath County Council had removed all the trees along the particular stretch of road in question, and he said if the M20 in Limerick could be resurfaced with low-noise material which had made a big difference for residents living nearby “then surely to God we can do the same here.”
Cllr Frankie Keena said noise levels on the Athlone Relief Road have been “a bone of contention” for many years, and he appealed to the council to take whatever action is necessary to reduce them.
“This road hasn't been resurfaced in maybe 13 or 14 years,” claimed Aengus O'Rourke, “so now is the time.”
Westmeath County Council Director of Services, Ambrose Clarke, said “low noise surfacing material” had been used to resurface the Athlone Relief Road in 2011, but he added that the noise reduction barriers “will still be needed” as an additional noise reduction measure.
“I'm not suggesting for a second that we take our eye off the ball in relation to sound barriers,” said Cllr O'Rourke, “but the only thing I can say for definite here is that the seven to 12 km around Limerick and also in Leixlip is not 'low noise' it's actually 'no noise' and that's what we should be aiming for.”
The council decided to send a letter to TII requesting the use of a low-noise material for the next scheduling resurfacing works on the road.