Irish roads are ill equipped for modern traffic and many routes are showing significant signs of wear and tear.
Since the 1970s Irish roads have been deteriorating and the condition of the road surface is the cause of grave concern. A 1975 report by An Foras Forbartha states that one mile in every 20 is deficient in terms of road surface. In 1980 about one mile in every five of Irish national primary routes is in some way deficient.
No matter where you're from or what you do, you’ve surely asked the question in recent years what’s happening to Irish roads.
Potholes are appearing in Irish roads faster than they can be filled in. Even more dangerous are the fast stretches of road with poor surfaces known as accident black spots. One accident in six is caused by bad roads.
High volumes of traffic on Irish national primary and secondary routes, and the roads in cities mean they are showing the greatest signs of damage. Juggernauts are the main contributors to wear and tear on Irish roads although,
We are asking out of date roads to do a modern job.
Crossing Hazelhatch Bridge on the border of County Kildare and South Dublin is a lorry driver’s nightmare. Swords village is a bottleneck on the main route from Dublin to Belfast and there are similar traffic congestion problems in Naas, the gateway to the south.
This episode of 'Today Tonight’ was broadcast on 21 October 1980. The reporter is Joe Little.
