One of the worst stretches of road on the N4 from Sligo to Dublin may not be upgraded for another seven years because the National Roads Authority has decided it is not a priority, a meeting of Sligo County Council was told yesterday.
Standing orders at the monthly meeting were suspended to allow councillors discuss a decision which they described as "outrageous".
The chairman, Mr Roddy McGuinn (FF), said it appeared the north-west was being "sidetracked again".
Councillors noted that the IDA had said poor infrastructure was the main reason it had difficulty attracting industry to the region.
The county manager, Mr Hubert Kearns, said he was disappointed. In the current economic climate, he found it extraordinary that work on this section of road could not proceed. "It is a significant bottleneck, and it is totally unacceptable that it should be left there as one approaches Sligo," he said.
The stretch of road from Clonamahon to Castlebaldwin, some seven kilometres, is very narrow and has a number of bad bends. The county engineer, Mr Frank Gleeson, said a Constraints Study had been done last year and they were expecting to proceed to route selection but had been informed by the NRA that money was not available this year.
Mr Gleeson said he was disappointed and would be taking up the matter with the NRA.
Two Fianna Fail councillors who will be contesting the next Dail election, Mr Eamon Scanlon and Dr Jimmy Devins, have criticised the decision. Mr Scanlon said he was afraid other areas had been given priority over Sligo.
Mr Sean MacManus said it was unlikely the road would be upgraded before 2005, and it could be 2008. "Where is the Government's commitment to the north-west?" he asked.
A spokesman for the NRA, Mr Michael Egan, said a needs assessment study carried out in 1998 decided this section should be upgraded in the period 20052009. "It is not on our current agenda as a priority project," he said.
He accepted that the Constraints Study had been carried out last year but said this was only because capacity became available on Sligo County Council to do the work, and the NRA agreed to provide the money.
"It came on to our agenda a lot earlier than we anticipated," he said.
Money would be made available for further planning work in 2002-3. "We are still on schedule. There has been no change to our 1998 agenda. 2005-9 would be the ideal timeframe. We will be working to meet that target," Mr Egan said.