Over €6m spent on unbuilt Railway Field road

Athlone Town Council has spent in excess of €6m on the Railway Field Road project, which, when complete, will see a four-lane relief road from St Vincent's Hospital to the Crescent, despite the fact the road has yet to be built. It emerged at Monday evening's February town council meeting that by the the end of 2010, the council had spent the sum of €6.13m on the project, seen by the council as a key part in the town's traffic management plans. The figure emerged from the 2010 statutory audit report and Sinn Féin Cllr Paul Hogan queried what the money had been spent on. Director of Services Barry Kehoe said he could prepare a report for the councillors outlining what the money had been spent on but said it had covered land costs, the new school in Arcadia and design costs, which he said were substantial. It is not clear if this sum of €6.13m covered the cost of the current junction at The Crescent, as this may have been funded from development levies from the nearby Athlone Towncentre. It also emerged during the course of Monday's meeting that the council is hoping to procure the land needed for the project from CIE in the next five or six months. The council then plans to seek to have the project funded in 2013 with the possibility that the work could be completed by 2014. The project had been previously funded by the Department of Transport but this funding was suspended due to the hold-up with the land needed for the project. Once the council has procured the necessary land from CIE it will revert back to the Department for funding.