Editorial: Kilkenny's unfinished ring road simply can’t be left any longer

The completion of Kilkenny’s northern ring road, a glaring, long-term omission in the city’s transportation network, should be an immediate priority for government action.

For years, the proposed northern extension has been planned and discussed. Despite its clear importance, the section remains incomplete, leading to unnecessary congestion and lobsided development.

It not only affects commuters and is painful for those doing the school run, but also hampers economic growth, causing accessibility problems to the city centre and putting people off, wasting time, fuel, and patience.

It is unavoidable that some of medieval Kilkenny’s road infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle the large vehicles that are now commonplace on our roads, from the big urban SUVs, to today’s enormous tractors and HGVs. Anyone who has met the latter coming over Green’s Bridge —not destined for the city but forced to go through it — knows the madness of having them rumble over that ancient structure, paralysing traffic on both sides.

Local TD Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere now says he has received confirmation from the new Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien that the necessary funding will be made available to enable the scheme move to options stage as soon as possible. Once options have been considered, he says that funding will be made available to complete the project.

It’s true — we have heard many promises and exhortations from other politicians in the past, as well as previous governments. But now is not the time to point fingers or lament past decisions.

It is vital to keep the pressure on so that this project can be started immediately. All of Kilkenny’s representatives, local and national, council officials and everyone affected by this — which is all of us — need to be pushing to make it happen at last.
Yes, there is red tape to be negotiated, and hoops to jump through, but it can be done if the will is there.