A MASSIVE clean up operation was underway yesterday after part of a main road in Glenswilly washed away following torrential rainfall.
The main Letterkenny to Glenties road was badly damaged close to Glenswilly school leaving it impassible for motorists.
The road reopened yesterday afternoon and traffic lights will remain in place at the location for the coming week as repair works are completed.
Mayor of the Letterkenny and Milford Municipal District, Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly said following talks with the Council’s Chief Executive the local authority has committed to laying bigger pipes to deal with the problem, something he says was already committed to back in February.
Speaking to the Donegal News during yesterday’s clean up Cllr Kelly said he will be putting major pressure on the Council to ensure the road, which is prone to flooding, is dealt with once and for all.
“This week I am going to be putting on major pressure to get these bigger pipes put in and get this sorted once and for all. It’s going on for far too long,” said Cllr Kelly.
“The Council are out there at the minute trying to get the water pumped away. It is a mess. We had a commitment back in February to bring in bigger pipes. That is the problem, the water comes down off the mountain on to the road and the pipes can’t take it. The Council committed to it in February but then said they couldn’t get funding which is ridiculous.”
Residents were also dealing with flooding at their premises and Cllr Kelly said some were unable to leave their houses.
“Residents there are impounded in their houses. They have water coming up their driveways and in their gardens. It is not good enough, we are in 2022,” he said.
“If something terrible was to happen it could have ended up fatal. The emergency services would not have been able to get through.
“I was on the phone to the Chief Executive and the roads engineers and thankfully they have committed to putting in the bigger pipes.”
Cllr Kelly said he will be keeping the pressure on to make sure the essential work is carried out this time.
Gardai issued an appeal yesterday for motorists to avoid all journeys in the Glenswilly area and to use an alternative route.
Met Éireann issued a further yellow rain warning for Donegal last night which remained in place until 3am on Monday. Heavy rain with thunderstorms were expected overnight.
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