Danger warning on country roads

Danger warning on country roads

2 September 2015

COMMUNITY groups may be asked to come to the rescue of Transport NI as safety concerns intensify over uncut verges and hedges.

In the week that a Downpatrick grandfather warned lives were at risk near a busy crossroads where a sign has been obscured by hedges, senior Transport NI officials revealed they are considering asking community groups to cut hedges and verges.

The admission that the roads organisation cannot adequately cut rural hedges and verges because of swingeing budget cuts came from Transport NI’s southern director, Simon Richardson, who is working with local councils to set up a ‘community self help scheme.’

The move comes as public concern mounts over the safety implications of leaving so many rural roads with uncut hedges and so many junctions with uncut grass verges.

An example of the safety issues facing drivers was highlighted this week by Downpatrick grandfather Thomas Bibby who has warned lives are at risk on the Ballyculter Road where a hedge has completely obscured a road sign warning motorists they are approaching a crossroads.

Mr Bibby said he was teaching his granddaughter to drive recently and she almost drove across the crossroads because she didn’t see the warning sign.

“There is an accident waiting to happen at this particular location and I hope action will be taken to ensure all road signs are clearly visible,” he said.

Simon Richardson, the southern regional manager for Transport NI, unveiled the possibility of a community self help scheme as he defended his organisation’s performance before local councillors this week.

With one councillor warning that lives are at risk because of Transport NI’s “disappearance” from rural communities, Mr Richardson said his organisation is working with councils to see if community groups could help.

The council spared Mr Richardson’s blushes by allowing his team to meet privately with councillors from the seven electoral areas before the public meeting on Thursday night. When the public council meeting opened afterwards, less than half the councillors were in the chamber and the meeting wound up within an hour.

During the brief public meeting it was the condition of verges and hedges which dominated exchanges.

Rowallane DUP councillor William Walker said he was concerned with the way hedges and grass was being allowed to obscure road signs and he questioned if Transport NI has a duty of care to cut the vegetation around signs.

The SDLP’s Declan McAteer called for more imaginative ways of getting verges cut, warning that  rural roads were reverting back to the width of the 16 and 17th century as they narrow in because of uncut hedges.

However, the most damning criticism came from Sinn Fein councillor Terry Hearty who warned that rural roads were becoming very dangerous because of the scale of the cutbacks.

“The overall situation on the rural roads is that people’s lives are being put at risk, where holes are so big the roads are impassable,” said the councillor. 

“The edge of the roads have grown in and people can’t see out. There is just pure neglect,” he added. “Will this lead to the closure of rural roads over the winter time?

“In the rural area I represent it’s like the Roads Service just disappeared, that they don’t exist anymore. It’s total and utter chaos and it will cost lives in the rural area.

“I understand that when you have money you’re spending it where the bulk of the traffic is in, the towns and cities, but it is an abandonment of rural Ireland and is totally devastating to the people that live there.”

Mr Richardson spent some time outlining the huge budget cuts which have hit Transport NI this year before revealing he is exploring a plan to involve local communities in the southern region which takes in Newry, Mourne and Down Council and two others.

“I have been in touch with Liam (Liam Hannaway, chief executive of Newry Mourne and Down Council) and the chief executives of the other two councils and we will be meeting within the next few weeks to look at ways of developing community self help, for want of a better term,” he said.

 “We want to see if there would be people who would be keen to get involved and do that. I don’t know what the outcome of that is going to be but I know the chief executive here was keen to instigate that interaction, and the other two were equally keen so we’re going to kick that off and see what comes of it.”

An official statement from Transport NI said the body is keen to work with councils and community groups to ascertain if there are any opportunities for community groups to be involved in helping to deliver some local services in their areas. 

“TransportNI has arranged a joint meeting with the three councils which comprise the Southern Division of TNI to discuss the issues, identify possible opportunities and consider the risks and constraints of members of the public being involved in providing these services,” said a spokeswoman.

The meeting has been arranged for the end of September.