Minister urged to make by-pass plan a flagship

Minister urged to make by-pass plan a flagship

26 October 2016

BALLYNAHINCH’S proposed £50m by-pass must become one of Transport NI’s flagship development projects, according to a local politician.

Town councillor Mark Murnin said the by-pass is being continually “kicked down the road” and it is time for the town’s congestion to be given the same recognition as other parts of Northern Ireland.

A number of weeks ago, Stormont Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard said while the by-pass is an important scheme, it is not one of his department’s flagship projects so money to finance its construction won’t be available over the next four years.

An update on the multi-million pound scheme linking the Newcastle and Belfast roads was given by the district’s most senior roads official, Simon Richardson, during a briefing with Newry, Mourne and Down councillors on Monday night.

Last January, during a three-day public inquiry into what will be the district’s biggest ever roads scheme, it was suggested the earliest work on the near two mile project could start would be at the end of next year or early 2018 and take 18 months to complete. 

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 will be constructed over the Moss Road, with the by-pass passing under part of the Crossgar Road with a 90 metre long bridge constructed to take traffic over Ballynahinch River.

Mr Richardson said a “significant amount of work” on the proposed by-pass has been completed, including the public inquiry held at the start of the year. He said the report from the Inspector who presided at the hearing was received by Transport NI in March and the project team is considering its recommendations.

“The project team is currently finalising a report for the Minister’s consideration. Subject to satisfactory outcome, the department will publish the scheme’s environmental statement, the intention to proceed and also make the direction order for the proposed scheme,” he explained.

“The making of the vesting order will be delayed to align with the construction programme for the by-pass. The next stage will then involve preparing the economic appraisal report and business case and taking the scheme through the procurement process.”

Mr Richardson reiterated that the multi-million pound by-pass is not one of the Department of Infrastructure’s flagship projects and that its progression to procurement and subsequent construction will be dependent on approval of the business case, clearing statutory procedures and funding being made available.

He added: “We are in the final stages of competing a submission to the Minister for his consideration on how he wants to take the scheme forward and expect him to respond accordingly.”

Slieve Croob councillor, Mark Murnin, said that once again it appears Ballynahinch’s proposed by-pass is being “kicked down the road.”

He continued: “This by-pass scheme is critical on so many fronts, in particular, the future development of Ballynahinch. The scheme is also critical for the development of the Mournes and the development of Newcastle as a premier tourist destination.

“The proposed by-pass is also critical for the thousands of people who travel through Ballynahinch on a daily basis to get to their place of work in Belfast and beyond.”

Councillor Murnin suggested traffic figures for Magherafelt, where a new multi-million by-pass recently opened, are similar to those recorded in Ballynahinch.

He added: “The bottom line for us is that we want the Ballynahinch by-pass to become a flagship project and delivered as soon as possible. I have written to Mr Hazzard on the issue and am awaiting his response. The by-pass is critical is for the future of Ballynahinch and the wider district.”