Appeal to start £45m Ballynahinch bypass

Appeal to start £45m Ballynahinch bypass

24 April 2024

MORE appeals have been made for work to start on Ballynahinch’s £45m bypass.

The recent tragic death of pensioner Giovanni Buggea (70) sparked calls for a start to be made on the near two mile bypass with the Department for Infrastructure also urged to carry out a major review of town centre traffic management.

Stormont roads minister, John O’Dowd, has been asked to visit the town while an online petition calling for work to start on the shovel ready £45m bypass linking the Newcastle and Belfast roads has secured over 500 signatures.

The petition for the biggest ever roads project proposed for the district was launched within hours of Mr Buggea losing his life when the pedestrian was involved in an incident with a lorry at the top of Windmill Street, close to its junction with High Street.

Strangford MLA Harry Harvey has called for work on the bypass to start while members of the Rowallane District Electoral area have weighed in with support for a traffic management review.

Originally from Sicily and well known and popular in the town, Mr Buggea, a father of two who had lived in Ballynahinch for more three decades, died after an incident involving a lorry.

Mr Harvey, who last week met with Stormont roads minister, John O’Dowd, highlighted the need for the multi-million pound bypass to be delivered.

He said a confirmed start date for the scheme linking the Belfast and Newcastle roads must be given “serious consideration”.

Mr Harvey said town centre traffic grinds to a halt daily.

“The people of Ballynahinch have been waiting for this infrastructure project quite literally for generations,” he said. “The current road network cannot deal with the volume, size and weight of traffic using it.”

Mr Harvey said the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area receives the smallest share of the roads budget across Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas

He said he challenged the roads minister to undertake a full traffic flow assessment and was  assured that Mr O’Dowd will consider the points put forward to him in relation to the bypass.

The Ballynahinch scheme is the biggest ever roads scheme proposed for the district.

Last year, the Department for Infrastructure effectively mothballed the multi-million pound scheme due to budget restraints. It had been hoped the bypass would open this spring.

Major new roundabouts are proposed at the Belfast Road junction with the Saintfield Road and at the Newcastle Road junction with the Downpatrick Road.

A new bridge is to be constructed over the Moss Road, with a section of the bypass passing under part of the Crossgar Road with a 90-metre bridge constructed to take traffic over Ballynahinch River.

Overtaking lanes stretching almost 900 metres are proposed at either end of the bypass where the major new roundabouts are to be constructed, with the scheme also including a shared footpath and cycle lane.

It’s estimated the bypass, will take in excess of 18 months to build, with roads officials insisting it will greatly benefit both strategic and local road users by reducing journey times and improving road safety. 

In addition, officials are confident that the scheme’s economic assessment demonstrates the bypass would provide a good economic return.