Roads division sympathetic to request for repairs to ‘enormous’ Carrickfergus potholes

David Porter was responding to a request by Deputy Mayor Councillor Andrew Wilson for the “enormous” potholes to be repaired.

Speaking at a meeting of Mid and East Antrim’s Direct Services Committee on Tuesday evening, the Knockagh Ulster Unionist representative inquired about a resurfacing programme.

Mr Porter said: “Early intervention to catch potholes before they end up in big craters is a more effective way of dealing with them. I have a fair degree of sympathy. It is something we can look into.”

Updating councillors on schemes which have been carried out during the past 12 months, the regional manager noted resurfacing at Main Street and Hillhead Road, Ballycarry and Glenview Road, Larne; Carrickfergus Road, Larne; Cable Road, Edward Road and Windsor Avenue in Whitehead.

Commenting on the challenges presented by Covid, Mr Porter added: “There was some initial disruption to our resurfacing programmes, however, all our contractors have now returned to sites and work is progressing well.

“There are still some very significant Covid-19 implications on the delivery of our works as we must keep staff, contractors and the public safe by operating with social distancing, and while there is still some disruption with our supply chain, please be reassured that we are working hard to manage this situation.

“The overall 2020/21 structural maintenance capital budget is £75m for Northern Ireland, and of this, £12m has been set aside for a roads recovery fund of which £10m is targeted towards rural roads.

“Divisional allocations have now been confirmed and our capital funding is broadly similar to last year except for the additional funding which is being made available for walking, cycling and safer routes to schools and this will allow the introduction of part time 20mph speed limits at nine schools in the Mid and East Antrim area.

“Resource allocations will allow the Department to maintain the road network in a similar way to last year and the minister has this year allocated funding to allow a full street lighting repair service for the entire year which is to be welcomed.”

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.

Click here to read: Speeding in focus for Road Safety Week

--

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.