Minister: No merit in ‘decoupling’

He claimed Roads Service would publish an environmental statement and direction and vesting orders for the 30 kilometre dual carriageway from Londonderry to Dungiven later this year. He also confirmed that the Dungiven bypass would not be ‘decoupled’ from the overall A6 Castledawson to Londonderry upgrade.

Mr Kennedy said he expected a public inquiry on the road scheme next spring.

East Londonderry MLA John Dallat quizzed the Minister on the current position on the plans to upgrade the A6 from Castledawson to Londonderry; and whether there had been a decision taken on the decoupling of the plans for a by-pass at Dungiven.

In a statement, Mr Kennedy said the preliminary assessment of the A6 Castledawson to Londonderry dualling scheme recommended that the western section of the route, including the Dungiven by-pass, should be taken forward at an early stage.

“There is no merit at this stage in ‘decoupling’ the Dungiven Bypass element of the overall project. If deemed necessary, this could be done at a later date. Given the reduction of two-fifths in the Executive’s overall capital funding, the funds currently allocated to my Department in the 2011-2015 budget would not allow construction of the Londonderry to Dungiven dual carriageway, or Dungiven Bypass, to commence before 2014-2015, at the earliest,” Mr Kennedy told Mr Dallat..