Blocked drain blamed for recent flooding at Letterkenny roundabout

A blocked drain in a field has been cited as the main cause of the recent flooding at the Dry Arch Roundabout in Letterkenny

The issue was raised via two separate motions at Tuesday's meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.,

Cllr Gerry McMonagle called on Donegal County Council to investigate the cause of the most recent flooding and take whatever remedial works necessary to prevent a reoccurrence in the future.

Cllr Michael McBride called for a full survey of the area to be carried out to identify the causes of the ongoing flooding and for a remedial plan to be put in place as soon as possible.

Both received similar replies from the council which stated extensive works have been carried out in the Bonagee area over the last week to detect blockages that have caused flooding and to carry out the necessary repair and improvement works to the drainage network.

It added the council is liaising with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) regarding the provision of funding to carry out these works.

Cllr McMonagle said the council answer suggested blockages in the system were responsible and he wondered if these could reoccur again. He said he was on that road at 6.20am on the morning of the flood and met what looked like a river coming through the fields on the right-hand side from Lurgybrack. he came back to town about 3.45pm the same day and there was still a river coming down out of the fields, he said.

He said he was also worried about the continued flooding on the other side of the road at the end of the dual carriageway and felt it should be investigated.

"This is a regular occurrence when it rains and it's dangerous. It's been going on that long that I can remember the late Cllr Eddie Fullerton calling me to tow him out of the flood, and that was prior to 1991."

Cllr McBride felt a maintenance programme should be put in place and pipes checked every six months to ensure they were clear.

Cllr Donal Coyle said the flooding happened a number of times and he understood on the first occasion the flooding resulted from a blockage to a drain in a field where Leck Road meets Lurgybrack Road.

"The water had nowhere to go. It came down the road and onto the roundabout. There was work done on it but it happened a second and third time. It was discovered that the gullies at the roundabout were blocked."

He added the council workers had a major job over a number of days to clear the blocked drain from the field to the roundabout.

"The amount of scrub and branches they took out was immense. There has been no flooding since but then again we didn't have any heavy rain," he added.

He said the contractor working on the four-lane project in the same area had put in an attenuation pump that was meant to deal with any surplus water at the roundabout and he had been assured that would alleviate any possibility of flooding there.

David McIlwaine, senior executive engineer/area manager for roads and transportation, said it took them a full week to clear the huge build-up of debris. He added they would be looking to upgrade a particular manhole in this area to help prevent this from happening again and explore the drainage and costs issues with the TII. He also said they would be investigating the flooding at the dual carriageway.

Cllr McMonagle said the dual carriageway had been a problem for over 30 years and wondered how much more looking at it they could do.

There's no point having a dual carriageway and a four-lane that has been upgraded if it is going to be a victim of continued flooding, he said.