Review of £45m bypass

Review of £45m bypass

13 March 2024

A CONTROVERSIAL decision to axe the long-awaited Ballynahinch bypass scheme is to be reviewed.

Stormont Roads Minister John O’Dowd has given an assurance that he will look again at a decision to shelve the multi-milllion-pound project.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) announced last year that the scheme, designed to tackle chronic traffic congestion in Ballynahinch town centre, was being mothballed owing to budget restraints.

Just two years earlier, the DfI announced that the £45 million scheme could be completed by the spring of this year.

The bypass was one of a number of other major road building projects across the province which were put on hold.

The announcement was met with huge disappointment from many local politicians, including South Down MP Chris Hazzard.

He said the people of Ballynahinch and the wider South Down area had been waiting since the 1960s for the much-needed project to commence.

Following the restoration of the Stormont Executive last month, Mr Hazzard wrote to Mr O’Dowd urging him to reconsider his Department’s decision.

Mr Hazzard says he has now secured a commitment from Mr O’Dowd to look again at the scheme.

The undertaking was given to Mr Hazzard during a meeting with Mr O’Dowd in Stormont to discuss the need for strategic infrastructure projects in order to improve the existing transport network in South Down. 

Mr Hazzard said: “As soon as the Stormont Executive was restored last month, I wrote to Minister O’Dowd to request that he review the decision by DFI officials last summer to shelve the Ballynahinch bypass, so I am encouraged that he has now confirmed to me that he will indeed review this decision. 

“It was also pleasing to hear Minister O’Dowd reiterate that he is aware of the need to reduce journey times and improve road safety in the South Down area, including the A24 at Ballynahinch. 

“Investment in infrastructure projects like the proposed Ballynahinch bypass would not only create jobs and help stimulate increased economic activity in the local area, but it would undoubtedly also boost innovation and help improve the connectivity of South Down to the wider Belfast and Dublin corridor. 

Mr Hazzard added: “With confirmation recently that Stormont has been underfunded for quite some time, it is vitally important now that the British Government look to address this shortfall in capital funding, and allow much needed investment in our public services, including transformative infrastructure schemes such as the Ballynahinch bypass.