Glasson sewerage job to finish after 26 months

It is anticipated that the Glasson/Ballykeeran/Coosan sewerage scheme will be completed by mid May - around 20 months after it was first expected to finish. That's according to Westmeath County Council, in response to Fine Gael Cllr Mark Cooney who asked for a progress report on the works and likely completion date at last week's Athlone Area meeting. He drily queried whether that was May of this year. The council said that the contractor on the scheme "continues to make progress in line with the revised programme" and that substantial completion will be evident by the end of April. Outstanding works include laying 250m of pipe on the Low Road near Glasson Village and laying a section of pipe at the Low Road and the N55 junction just south of the village. The contractor is currently carrying out minor remedial works to previously constructed elements, such as sealing of manholes and cleaning of pipe lines. Cllr Cooney and Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran both expressed concern that the roads affected by the work would be repaired. They agreed that an update should be given to councillors at the next area meeting in May. The sewerage scheme works began in March 2009 and were initially due to finish in late August of that year. However, the scope and scale of the works were underestimated and the completion date was put back to the first quarter of 2010. Many local residents and businesses were unhappy with the traffic diversions caused by the project and the delays to its completion. Meanwhile, the traffic calming measures in Glasson Village will be completed within the next three weeks.