Large sum paid to repair entrance to civic offices in Nenagh
A SUM of €232,838, excluding VAT, has been spent by Tipperary County Council on addressing failings to the roundabout and entrance at the front of the entrance to its Civic Offices at Limerick Road, Nenagh – despite the fact the multi-million euro building is just 20 years old.
It has emerged that the sub-layer under the paved roundabout area failed, resulting in the new sum having to be forked out by taxpayers to excavate the entire site and put down a new entrance.
The cost of the works has been revealed by the local authority to Nenagh Independent councillor Séamie Morris as part of a Freedom of Information request.
Council management requested the works after the paved surface of the roundabout subsided as a result of a failed substructure.
In its reply to Cllr Morris, the local authority said the works were requested by council management to address deficits to the entrance area to the building that had arisen over time, “including significant undulations in the surface.”
The council said a report was prepared by a senior engineer in the local authority’s road section.
This report confirmed there was a need to resolve the issue as the surface “would further degrade quickly due to the hammer effect of vehicles on an uneven surface and water ingress to an already failed subgrade.”
The cost of almost €233,000 (excluding VAT) for the works due to the failure of the sub-grading of the roundabout has emerged less than two decades after the new building was officially opened in October 2004 at reported cost to the taxpayer of €27 million.
In its answer provided to Cllr Morris, the council said accessibility standards to the Civic Offices had also changed since the construction of the entrance to the building, necessitating works which also added to the overall cost.
“There was accessibility improvements to be made to bring the provision for pedestrians, wheelchair users and visually impaired people in line with best practice.”
The council said bringing the access to the building up to these standards included a range of new provisions, such as putting in tactile paving and changes to kerbing.
In its answer, the council continued: “Added to this, significant works were required to create an appropriate road/paving subgrade, to ensure the new paving would not fail, as the previous had.
“€232,838.54, excluding VAT, has been spent on creating a structural road subgrade, on improving accessibility and on re-surfacing works in front of the Civic Offices,” the council revealed.
COST OF NEW SIGNS
Cllr Morris also sought details on the cost of putting up new speed limit signs in Tipperary.
New signs have gone up all over the county in recent months to reflect the recent change in the speed limit on local roads from 80kmh to 60kmh.
Cllr Morris was informed that the total sum expended on the new signs up to mid-February totalled €483,922.
This involved an expenditure of €96,000 in 2024 and an additional sum of €387,922 that has been spent in the current year up to February 14.
The council said the 2024 spend had already been recouped in full from the Department of Transport and that the expenditure made this year to date was yet to be recouped from the department.
DUBLIN ROAD WORKS
Separately, Cllr Morris also queried the cost of providing new traffic calming and cycleway works on the entrance to Nenagh on the old Dublin Road at Lisboney.
The council said the cost, to date, amouted to €517,785. This sum is exclusive of VAT.
The council informed him that this expenditure would be recouped from the Department of Transport.