Crucial road maintained better in Offaly than North Tipp says councillor

The main traffic corridor serving the Midlands is in urgent need of repair according to local elected representatives, who say the N62 road is being neglected by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

Tipperary County Councillors from the Municipal District covering the Roscrea, Thurles and Templemore area say the main traffic route through the District, the N62, has become so dilapidated in sections between Roscrea and Thurles it has become dangerous for motorists.

Sections of the main traffic corridor serving the Midlands towards the West suffers from standing water and surface disintegration that pose hazards to the safety of motorists, according to local councillors.

Meanwhile, current roadworks in the neighbouring Nenagh Municipal District have created an extra burden on the road between Templemore and Dunkerrin, which councillors say is severely overstressed and unable to accommodate the sudden influx of traffic.

Last weekend a serious traffic accident resulted in several people being hospitalised and councillors warned at their first monthly meeting of 2026 in Thurles on Monday that they fear a fatality will occur if action isn't taken soon to slow down traffic.

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Templemore councillor, Eddie Moran, told the meeting the "road is giving way" in sections of the N62 between Templemore and Thurles, while Roscrea's Shane Lee said sections of the same road between Roscrea and Templemore regularly have "floods of water standing in the middle of the road."

Councillor Lee remarked that he can't understand why a road which is overseen and maintained by TII is in such better condition across the Offaly border near Roscrea.

"Across the border in Offaly it looks in a much higher standard," he said; "from the border with Offaly all the way into Roscrea town centre it isn't looked after as well and this is a TII road so how can they account for that?" he asked.

"From Roscrea to Templemore is in a terrible state - floods of water are gathering in the middle of the road. We are not getting a satisfactory response from TII and they need to step up on this issue which is on a very important national road," Cllr Lee said.

Cathaoirleach, Peggy Ryan, said "there are a very limited number of roads we can raise with TII and it is a struggle," while Senior Engineer, Kieran Malone said the local authority have repeatedly highlighted the Thurles to Templemore section in particular with the national roads authority.

He said the local authority are also aware of issues on the Offaly border area on the N62 and are seeking a solution with TII.

Cllr Eddie Moran said a road overseen by the local authority, the Dunkerrin to Templemore road, is "a very big issue now" and said speeding and the lack of signage are primary concerns.

"We need something to slow down the traffic. There is massive traffic on it now with the Nenagh road being done and there have been several accidents, with one last week being very serious and people going to hospital", Cllr Moran said.

"It isn't only today or yesterday this road has been in this state. We have to assure residents living on that road - what are we going to tell them? We haven't even asked the Gardaí to to go out and police the speeding there. There is only a speeding van there now and again - it's absolutely terrible," Cllr Moran said.

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Several Councillors said the road does not receive adequate gritting and during recent cold snaps has been particularly treacherous for early morning traffic.

Cllr Michael Smith said previous pleas for attention to the road have "fallen on deaf ears" and elected representatives have been "repeatedly given excuses about funding."

He said the issue needs to be made a priority - "we don't want to have a fatality on that road and we came close to that last week. The answer that the issue is money is not good enough any longer," he said.

"Offaly County Council own part of that road and the way the road goes can be deceiving, it is not all actually in our area. It is an issue that needs to be highlighted directly with the Director urgently," he said.