Thousands of kilometres of Irish roads are suffering from major defects, it has been revealed.
The National Oversight and Audit Commission’s annual report found 7% of the regional network showed signs of “some to severe structural distress” – up 4% from 2017.
The figure for local primary roads was also 7% – unchanged from the previous year.
At the same time the local government watchdog also recorded an increase in the proportion of regional roads – which are often the main arteries connecting large parts of the country –in near perfect condition.
The report showed 39% of the routes had few or no defects – up from 28%.
A spokesperson said: “Poor quality roads can be a cause of concern to communities and impact economic development.” However, it said the figures over the past five years showed the general condition of both regional and local routes, which carry around 54% of total traffic, had improved.
The survey did not examine the condition of national roads including motorways as their maintenance is a shared responsibility of councils and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
NOAC said it focused its examination on the 25 local authorities outside the main urban areas of Dublin, Cork and Galway.
At least 10% of regional roads in five counties were categorised in the worst condition – Offaly, Wexford, Cork county, Limerick city and county and Wicklow – with Offaly having the highest rate at 16%.
At the other end of the scale, only 2% of regional roads in Longford and Leitrim were in a bad state of repair.
Roscommon County Council had the greatest share of its network categorised as having no or few defects – 58% of all regional routes – compared to the lowest figure of 24% in the Wicklow local authority.
On local roads, Wexford had the highest figure at 34% of its network classified as structurally distressed which NOAC said was “a cause for concern and should be addressed urgently”. Kildare had the highest percentage at 38 of its local routes with few or no defects.
Road Safety Authority research found road conditions are estimated to be a contributory factor in up to 4% of fatal collisions.
