Concerns over speeding

Councillor Margaret Tinsley said she was horrified at the speed and risk-taking, including reckless overtaking, she saw as she canvassed in the Bleary area.

She said, “I couldn’t believe it. I witnessed the problems for several hours during the afternoon and it was at its worst during the teatime hours.

“However, several residents informed me the problems are worse at very late weekend hours around midnight.”

Mrs Tinsley, a member of Craigavon’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership (CPSP), raised the matter at a meeting with Chief Inspector Paul Reid.

She said, “He informed me he was not aware there was a problem, and had no reports of accidents or incidents.

“During this discussion another member informed him of an accident which had taken place the previous weekend which had the potential to have been very serious.”

The DUP councillor said Chief Inspector Reid had arranged to have officers carry out speed awareness deployments in the area and she will also be passing on details of problem days and/or times.

A resident in the area told the ‘MAIL’ the road can become ‘something of a racetrack at times’.

He said: “You have traffic travelling along this road at well in excess of motorway speeds, while it’s a relatively straight road there are a lot of dips along the way and I don’t think people are taking proper account of what’s just over the hill.”

He did, however, praise the Roads Service for their work along the road with the re-prioritising of the junction at the Clare Road some years ago and, more recently, the work on the sightlines at the Calvertstown Road junction. Improved sightlines, he said, had definitely improved safety.