Air pollution levels in Dungiven 'significantly reduced' since opening of A6, Causeway Coast & Glens Council told
Air pollution levels in Dungiven have ‘significantly reduced’ since the opening of the A6, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council have said.
In April 2023, the A6 officially opened to traffic, removing long-standing traffic bottlenecks through the town.
During October’s Environmental Services Committee meeting, members were asked to approve Council’s corporate response to DAERA’s Clean Air Strategy consultation.
SDLP Alderman Michael Coyle voiced concern that, despite the lower emissions due to its bypassing, Dungiven may still have unusually high car pollution due to increased traffic from the Garvagh Road.
He added: “At one stage we had a monitor outside the former police station, and the new bypass has taken a lot of the traffic away from there, but what we’re finding now is a lot of traffic is still coming from the Garvagh Road direction, on the junction of Main Street and Garvagh Road.”
Mr McPeake noted the monitoring station is still in operation, with results sent through to officers annually.
“There’s been a significant drop in the emissions, obviously, since the bypass was put in and the levels at this stage, from the last stats that I saw, were well below the normal for a town of that size.
“So I’m happy to send you through the last records that were put forward and we’ll continue to monitor that and see if there’s any gains, but going through the stats that was significantly reduced.”
At the suggestion of committee chair, UUP councillor Richard Holmes, Mr McPeake said he would return a paper on the possibility of moving the monitoring equipment, as it may be affecting readings.