The number of pothholes like these in Clondalkin Village are increasing on an annual basis
€700,000 allocated for pothole works
The number of pothole reports in Tallaght, Clondalkin and Rathfarnham are increasing on an annual basis, according to the council.
Senior Engineer of Road Maintenance at South Dublin County Council, Gary Walsh told elected members at a recent meeting that pothole reports made to the council are rising every year.
€700,000 was allocated to pothole works in the county in the latest budget and the storm only worsened the conditions of the South Dublin roads.
Mr Walsh said: “The number of reports is increasing but the number of customer queries we’re getting is increasing at probably the same rate as the potholes.
“I don’t know whether the potholes are increasing or the number of reports are increasing.”
The Senior Engineer described the issue as “heartbreaking” as he stated that no matter how many the council fill in, there will always be more.
He noted that the storm that began at the end of January caused setbacks to the road plans this year.
The Greenhills Road is on the local authority’s road works programme for this year but faced further damage due to the bad weather.
“We actually had a contractor appointed to resurface this road and he’s waiting on a geogrid, and it was kind of delaying the works.
“You’re kind of tearing your hair out because then you have to invest money in the temporary repair and then also invest money in the permanent repair in the year.
“It’s really difficult. It sounds like such an easy thing to resolve but we’re trying to really balance out the approach to doing it, to spend our money the best.
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job; we’re learning every year on it.”
Councillor Justin Sinnott described the issues the areas of Rathfarnham, Templeogue, Firhouse and Bohernabreena have suffered consistently.
Cllr Sinnott noted that a lot of recent potholes causing issues in the areas are “a renewal of emergency repairs” carried out.
He had sent in four from the Grange Road recently, which were four that he had sent in a year previous that were repaired within a month.
“They’re like baby dinosaur footprints. But if you look at them, you go’ that looks like three or four in a row’…if you leave them, they get worse, and actually the repair will cost a lot more money the longer you leave it.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
