Traffic ‘worse than ever’ amid calls for filter lane

Traffic ‘worse than ever’ amid calls for filter lane

24 October 2018

ROADS officials have been asked to address mounting concern about traffic snarl-ups at a busy junction on the outskirts of Downpatrick.

Local people and politicians have been campaigning for a new filter lane at the Ballynoe Road junction with the Killough Road which is dealing with a significant increase in traffic at peak periods.

Vehicles can be queued from the junction as far back as Bishops Brae in the morning with the upsurge attributed to the number of organisations now based at the Downshire Civic Centre.

The public sector campus is home to Newry, Mourne and Down Council, the PSNI, Housing Executive and Fire and Rescue Service. The Downe Hospital is also part of the sprawling estate.

Mrs Olwyn McColl, who lives at Vianstown Heights, says there has been a major increase in traffic using the junction over the past year and is urging roads officials to address the problem.

She says there is available land to provide a filter lane which has the potential to significantly reduce tailbacks.

“The problem is getting worse and sitting in a tailback, especially in the mornings when parents are taking children to school and people are heading to work, can be very frustrating,” she said.

“Due to the current layout of the junction, drivers wishing to turn left at the junction have to wait until the traffic in front of them clears. A new filter lane would help reduce waiting times.”

Mrs McColl said it would appear that an increasing number of drivers heading from the Newcastle direction in the morning were now using the Ballynoe and Bishops Brae roads, which was contributing to the congestion.

“The problem is 10 times worse than it ever was, there is no doubt about that,” she continued. “Things are bad now and they could get worse when the nearby new civic amenity site opens early next year.

“Many of my neighbours share my concern and it would be great if roads officials could use the land which is available to provide a new filter lane. It would make such a difference.”

Downpatrick councillor Dermot Curran said he shared the frustration of those campaigning for the filter lane which has not yet been delivered.

“In addition to the nearby Downshire Civic Centre, we have a large shopping centre, a nursery and primary school, leisure facility and very busy MOT centre which is all adding to the build-up of traffic at peak periods,” he said.

“While I am delighted Downpatrick has a major public sector campus, we need to ensure the roads system can cope with the additional volume of traffic its provision has generated. An important step would be upgrading the Ballynoe Road junction with the Killough Road.”

Cllr Curran believes a filter lane would not cost a significant amount of money to provide and would go some way towards easing the current problem.

“This particular junction is extremely busy in the morning, with a long tail back of vehicles a common occurrence. The creation of a filter lane allowing drivers wishing to turn left out of the Ballynoe Road would help reduce congestion,” he said. ‘The provision of a new filter lane is a no brainer.”

Cllr Curran said that while roads officials previously identified a scheme to provide a new filter lane, they subsequently decided that, due to the close proximity of the Glebetown Drive housing area, a new slip road would cause “road safety issues.”

He added: “I firmly believe that the time has come to revisit this particular proposal. There is clearly an issue which needs to be addressed and one which is going to get worse. Action is needed now.”