Town facing huge traffic disruption

Town facing huge traffic disruption

22 February 2012 - by DAVID TELFORD

HOME and business owners in Downpatrick face major disruption when work starts next month on two key schemes to upgrade the town’s sewerage network.

Northern Ireland Water has unveiled plans for two separate schemes totalling just over £4m in Market Street and Church Street.

The proposed upgrade comes after an in-depth review of Downpatrick’s sewerage and storm water networks, with the multi-million pound projects aimed at preventing sewage discharges into the locally named Plank Drain at Dunleath Park and the Roughal River at the rear of the Maxol garage in Church Street.

A key aspect of both schemes is preventing storm and foul water being discharged into the same sewer by closing a number of existing drains which currently allow this to happen.

Work in Church Street is expected to start within the next few weeks, with the work in Market Street — which has been divided into two stages — not expected to get underway until the summer. Contractors are scheduled to be working in various parts of the town until July of next year.

In Market Street, the current sewage pumping station at the rear of the public toilet block is to be decommissioned and replaced with a new facility at The Grove shopping centre car park where an underground holding tank for storm water is to be provided. Traffic disruption is also anticipated at this part of the town.

Relocating the pumping station in Market Street will require a small section of the main road being dug up from the public toilet block heading towards the Irish Street junction. All other pipe work required to facilitate the new pumping station was put in place two years ago when NI Water contractors were working at this part of the town.

A new mains sewer will also be laid between the Lidl store and the junction of St. Patrick’s Square, while another mains sewer will be laid from a new pumping station to be constructed at Russell Park.

This particular sewer will run alongside the Down Leisure Centre out on to Lower Market Street before joining up with the new pumping station at the car park.

A new storm main will also be provided to run from the underground storage tank at the car park, past the Downpatrick and Co. Down Railway’s base to discharge into the Quoile river.

NI Water officials say they aim to minimise disruption during work on the various schemes and will liaise with the Roads Service when contractors are on site.

It is also proposed that contractors will work during the clear evenings and at weekends to complete the schemes as quickly as possible.

NI Water official Lisa Hughes explained the Environment Agency requires the work to be carried out in Market Street to prevent “unacceptable, intermittent sewage discharges into local waterways.”

She continued: “The fact this currently happens is not environmentally appropriate. This happens as a result of storm and foul water mixing and the work we are proposing to do will prevent this from happening.

“Our main aim during work on the schemes in Downpatrick is to minimise traffic disruption with the bulk of construction work carried out over the summer. We are also not anticipating any road closures.”