'Haven't a braincell': Carlow Council under fire as road works get underway

Members of Carlow County Council have been labelled as not having a “brain cell between them” as roadworks have begun at the same time schools returned, causing serious traffic jams.

A post on Facebook highlighted the queue of traffic on Green Road outside Carlow Town on Wednesday morning as a driver was doing the school run.

More than 14 cars could be seen in the line waiting for the stop/go system in place to turn green.

“Traffic queues in every direction. Absolutely farcical,” the post reads.

The works will replace almost 1.8 km of aged water mains with new modern pipe and are being carried out as part of Uisce Éireann’s National Leakage Reduction Programme.

They are taking place along the Blackbog Road, along the R448, and the Green Road, with the R448 being the main access route to South East Technological University.

However, they are causing uproar with locals, with many criticising the time of day and year that the works were scheduled for.

“They should start work after 9.30 when all the traffic is gone,” one person commented

“Work should be done.at.night,” another replied.

“All that would take too much common sense. Something carlow Co.council is severely lacking,” the original commenter responded.

Others said that the Council “haven't a brain cell between them,” and that “if they had Brains thy would be .dangerous.”

“It's carlow county Council. Is anybody actually surprised? I was actually waiting for the annual roadworks/delays when kids go back. Like clock work every year,” another person said.

“This grinds my gears.....if I was able to use the gearstick but I can't because I'm stopped up in traffic! Seriously this is a diabolical situation and surely avoidable also,” someone added.

Others have called for answers from the local authority and questioned their ability to do their jobs.

“It is now time for the road planners to come to the table and explain to the public reason for this fiasco. They are simply not doing their jobs properly,” a person said.

“This is what happens when council is too greedy and doesn't want to pay for night time roadwork so it doesnt disrupt the life of the tax payers of this town,” another added.

Of the over 60 comments, one defended the works.

“These are water pipes updates, they were on the Blackbog road and Green road all summer, they’ve been behind the munnelys road for the past month. It’s not starting today. It is a pain, but has to be done,” the person commented.

It’s hoped that the works will be completed by “Autumn 2026,” according to the Uisce Éireann website.