Sewerage scheme will bring huge disruption

Sewerage scheme will bring huge disruption

23 October 2013

BUSINESS owners and heritage railway officials in Downpatrick are bracing themselves for major disruption when work on a £2.6m Northern Ireland Water scheme gets underway next month.

The work is part of a major overhaul of the town’s sewerage system and is designed to prevent spillages of raw sewage and address town centre flooding.

NI Water has given a commitment to do all it can to minimise disruption during the 15-month contract which will see part of the Ballydugan Road and a large section of the car park at the rear of the Grove shopping centre being dug up to lay new sewer pipes and construct a new pumping station. There will also be disruption at the Lower Market Street car park, Stream Street and Market Street.

Business owners and politicians are concerned at the impact the NI Water scheme will have on town centre trade, and Downpatrick and Co. Down Railway officials fear if the route of a new storm pipe through their property is not altered, it could result in five railway lines having to be lifted.

Railway officials have warned this would disrupt events and visitors to the complex and admit while they have no issue with the pipe going through through their property or allowing contractors access to the site, concerns remain around the route the pipe will take.

Mr. Robert Gardiner said railway officials want NI Water to re-examine the path of the storm pipe through their property and work with them to find a potentially less disruptive route.

“We are concerned that NI Water’s scheme will prohibit our ability to operate any of our heritage trains for some considerable time until completion of the work on the new pipe. We have our own schedule of works to complete in the New Year and this could interfere in some time-critical work prior to our spring schedule of events,” he added.

There are several elements to the NI Water scheme. A new sewer pipe is to be laid from a pumping station at Russell Park across Dunleath Park onto the Ballydugan Road, and into the Lower Market Street car park. Here it will be connected to a new pumping station and large storage tank for storm water at the rear of the Grove shopping centre.

A new storm pipe will run from the pumping station across ground belonging to the Downpatrick and Co. Down Railway and out towards the Quoile river, while an existing sewer directly outside the shopping centre is to be upgraded.

Contractors will also be spending time in Market Street upgrading sewers and demolishing an existing pumping station and sewers in Stream Street are in line for an upgrade. This work will also lead to disruption and lane restrictions.

The head of Downpatrick’s Chamber of Commerce hopes NI Water will ensure disruption is kept to a minimum. Ms. Tracey Quail said traders remember well the disruption caused by a major NI Water scheme in the town several years ago.

“While everyone recognises the need for this work, NI Water has yet to inform the business community of its plans. Downpatrick traders simply can’t afford major disruption that will impact on their respective businesses,” she declared. “Given the scale of the proposed work, it seems inevitable there will be disruption which we could well do without.”

A spokeswoman for NI Water said some advance pipe-laying work near Rathkeltair House will be carried out next spring, with two way traffic flow continuing throughout this work and access to the Lower Market Street and Grove shopping centre car parks maintained. However, she said there will be some lane restrictions and diversions in place at times.

“Most of the major work will be at the Grove car park, while the Market Street pumping station scheme requires some work at this part of the town. The detailed traffic management arrangements for this work have been discussed with the Roads Service to try and minimise the impact,” said the spokeswoman.

“For most of this work it will be possible to maintain two-way traffic flows with critical connections carried out during weekend and night-time working. The bulk of the sewer upgrade work is planned for next July and August to tie in with the school holiday periods when traffic levels are lower.”

The spokeswoman confirmed NI Water has been liaising directly with the Downpatrick and Co. Down Railway regarding work at its premises and is trying to accommodate its requests.