Big pothole in County Tyrone 'still to be repaired'
A Cookstown councillor has said he has been reporting the same pothole on the Magheraglass Road for the past year and it remains unrepaired.
Mark Glasgow said all roadusers in Mid Ulster would not disagree with him that the roads have continued to be allowed to be overcome with potholes.
In a statement, the councillor continued: “The Killycurragh Road is suffering from carriageway rut and the roads around Coagh and Pomeroy have their defects also. The question has been asked time and time again when will these defects be repaired but to date no answer.
“Time and time again I have written to the Minister seeking clarification and encouraging change but nothing has changed other than the road defects are increasing.
“The cost of living has increased rapidly overnight and the last thing people need is to have to keep spending money on repairing their cars after hitting ones of these potholes.
“ Repeatedly I have said the Department must get away from the attitude of it’s easier to pay out compensation rather than fix the problem. The Department of Infrastructure has had a Minister since January 2020 and in the two years I have seen no real change for rural roads.”
Councillor Glasgow said two things must happen: “proper investment in a specific rural roads package to tackle these defects, and the policy for repairing defects on rural roads needs updated and changed to protect our rural roads from being pushed and allowed to fall into further decline”.
He added: “Our rural roads need action, they need investment and the need repaired, and I will continue to write and tell the Department that the policy they designed when allocating funds to roads for repairs is not fit for purpose and in fact it is the policy pushing our rural roads into further decline.”