Heat melts roads across Lisburn

Local Councillor Alexander Redpath has responded to concerned residents by reporting instances of the road melting to transport NI.

“A number of local residents complained about tar melting on local roads during the recent warm weather,” said Mr Redpath.

“This is an inevitable consequence of the warm weather but it’s important that actions are taken to minimise the wear and tear to the road during this welcome if unusual spell of warm weather.

“I reported these complains to Transport NI who have treated a number of bad patches to minimise the damage to the road.

“If residents are concerned about their own area please feel free to get in touch.

“Sadly the barbecue weather has a few downsides but we can rest assured that we’ve probably had all the summer we’re likely to get for one year.”

This is not the first time that roads in the area have suffered due to hot weather. Three years ago temperatures soared on the Twelfth and those on parade discovered the roads were melting under foot. As the local Orangemen and bands made their way along the Ballinderry Road to the field, they found the going getting increasingly difficult as the tarmac on the road started to lift.

At the time, a spokesperson for Roads Service said: “Most road surfaces are black and absorb the sun’s heat, and so the recent hot sunny weather has seen road surface temperatures soar to over 50 degrees Celsius (Centigrade). The result is that the bitumen in some roads has softened, with the stone chippings sinking into the road surface.”