Rain gardens to combat flooding as €114m Main Drainage Scheme faces scrutiny

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Questions have been raised over the effectiveness of Athlone’s €114 million Main Drainage Scheme as plans progress to introduce rain gardens in several flood-prone areas of the town.

The proposed nature-based solutions are planned for locations including Retreat Road, the Magazine Road junction with Old Galway Road, Talbot Avenue and beneath the Irish Rail bridge at Newtown Terrace.

The issue was raised at a recent meeting of Athlone-Moate Municipal District, where Cllr Aengus O’Rourke called for an urgent solution to ongoing flooding problems at the affected locations.

He described the issues at Retreat Road, Magazine Road and Newtown Terrace as “age-old problems” which had become particularly evident following recent heavy rainfall.

“It was more prevalent in recent weeks where we had very, very heavy downpours, and the three locations suffered as a result,” Cllr O’Rourke said.

He said he was aware that work was progressing at Retreat Road and Talbot Avenue.

“I’m very happy to see that those works will be completed by the end of 2026,” he said.

Cllr O’Rourke said the proposed solution at Retreat Road involved a rain garden approach was a sensible and cost-effective option.

“I think it’s a good solution given that the alternative is a very complex engineering undertaking,” he said.

He also asked whether the works would incorporate an improved footpath, noting that some of the existing hard shoulder would be removed to accommodate the scheme.

“Perhaps not all of the residents were excited about this solution” he said, but added that he believed it was a positive approach.

Regarding Newtown Terrace, Cllr O’Rourke said the project was understood to be at the design stage, but that a funding source had not yet been secured.

The Municipal District said it was aware of flooding concerns at the identified locations.

Funding has been secured through the Local Authority Water Programmne (LAWPRO) Nature-Based Solutions Programme to address flooding at Retreat Road, with the scheme currently under development and works required to be completed by November 2026.

Flood alleviation design solutions are also being prepared by consulting engineers for the Magazine Road/Old Galway Road junction and Newtown Terrace.

Funding has been secured this year to address flooding at the Old Galway Road location, with implementation expected by the end of 2026.

Cllr John Dolan said the flooding problems were “long-term issues” that had existed “as long as I’ve been on the council”.

He welcomed the use of nature-based solutions, saying: “They’ve been in Ballinahown for a while, and they are working.”

However, he questioned whether the proposed rain garden at Retreat Road would be capable of dealing with extreme rainfall events.

“My only concern at Retreat Road is that there would be a large volume of water, and how is it going to handle it?” he said.

“Are we confident that this will work, and if it doesn’t, have we got a plan B?”

Cllr Dolan said he supported the project, adding: “I am in favour of doing it because it is cost effective.”

However, Cllr Paul Hogan questioned why flooding problems at Retreat Road remained unresolved despite the €114 million Main Drainage Scheme.

“Dealing with Retreat Road, I remember dealing with this problem as early as 2005,” he said. “The answer at the time was, ‘wait until the Main Drainage is done, it’ll sort all this out’.”

Cllr Hogan said residents had been waiting two decades for a solution and questioned the need for a separate approach.

“Now we have a €114 million Main Drainage Scheme, and we’re going back to planting flowers to collect water on a serious problem area,” he said.

“The residents there have been waiting for 20 years for a resolution. We’re in the first year of the Main Drainage Scheme and now to have a different solution that could have been rolled out 20 years ago.”

He also highlighted concerns about flooding at Newtown Terrace, describing it as a key route through the town.

“It’s a main artery. When it floods, traffic coming in from the Ballymahon Road to Golden Island presents a major problem,” he said.

Cllr Hogan said many people had expected the Main Drainage Scheme to resolve flooding issues across Athlone.

“Lots of people were sold this idea of the Main Drainage Scheme, that it was going to answer all of the flooding issues,” he said.

“Are we saying now that the Main Drainage Scheme is not fit to alleviate surface water at these locations? And if that’s the case, it’s a more serious issue.”

District Engineer Willie Ryan said funding had been secured earlier this year for nature-based solutions at the three locations affected by flooding, including the Galway Road area, Retreat Road and Newtown Terrace.

“The issue of Retreat was raised with me, and it was only after the opening of the funding, and the opening of the rain garden at Arcadia, that we considered a similar design for Retreat,” he said.

Mr Ryan said the approach had developed into a national standard and was designed to manage surface water by directing it into the ground through specially engineered soils.

“It’s about trying to get the water into the subgrade using engineered soils,” he said.

Responding to concerns about whether the system would be effective during heavy rainfall, Mr Ryan said: “Do I think it’ll work? I think it will.”