A group opposed to the preferred route corridor for the bypass of Ballymurray Knockcroghery says it’s ‘lunacy’ to select the C3 option due to serious flood risk.
The C3 Focus Group maintains that Roscommon County Council needs to go back to the drawing board and select a new route.
The group outlines that the Office of Public Works has identified two areas on the selected route, close to the existing N61 and rail line as actual 'Recurring Flood Events'.
It says the route should have been subjected to Flood Impact Assessment (FIA) prior to its selection as an Emerging Preferred route, and does not accept that it will be part of the next phase.
The Group also has concerns that many homes were not identified on the maps produced by Roscommon Co Co/TII.
It also points out that the route is approximately 1.7 miles from Lough Funshinagh and that many kilometres around the C3 route is clearly accepted under the GSI website to be a Karst area, which produces in times of high rainfall significant ground water flooding.
It states that on advice from a Karst expert, the TII and Roscommon County Council will never be able to prove that will never be able to prove that there will be no impacts on the hydrogeology regime in the entire catchment.
The group says that there is serious concern for people in the entire area of the C3 route including Knockcroghery village about displacement of water if the limestone in a Karst is disturbed, and that the group was informed in consultation with engineers for the project that it intended to discharge surface and storm water to the river in the village of Knockcroghery.
The C3 Focus group maintains that this is a major problem for the entire community and not just for the people who live in homes which may be directly impacted.
