Minister pressed on city roads

The cross party delegation - led by the Mayor, Alderman Maurice Devenney - discussed a range of issues relating to infrastructure and public transport in the North West region.

Derry City Council’s Town Clerk and Chief Executive, Sharon O’Connor who was also in attendance described the meeting as positive, saying it provided the delegates with a forum to impress on the Minister the urgent need for funding to be prioritised for the North West so that the road network can be improved ahead of the City of Culture celebrations.

Other items on the agenda included Council’s concerns over the proposed postponement of road improvement works on the Buncrana Road and the fact that the works were unlikely to commence before 2017/2018 towards the end of the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland.

“The delegation highlighted to the Minister the need for the Buncrana Road works to be prioritized. It remains one of the busiest and most congested roads in our city and funding should be made available as soon as possible to carry out this essential work,” the Mayor said.

The delegation, which included Ulster Unionist representative, Alderman Mary Hamilton, Sinn Féin’s Cllr Michael Cooper and Cllr John Boyle from the SDLP, highlighted to the Minister the urgency of works commencing on the A6 Londonderry to Dungiven dual carriageway while reference was also made to the need for cross border links to be established with Donegal County Council on a wide range of relevant road issues such as gritting and traffic calming measures.

The delegation took the opportunity to make the Minister aware of a number of issues relating to road and traffic issues in the city including ongoing delays in the progression of government proposals in terms of residents parking and disabled parking bays and increasing traffic congestion at Bishop Street .

Ms Sharon O’Connor said the Minister took on board the comments made by the delegation and acknowledged the huge opportunity the City of Culture status has for the city and wider North West.

“The Minister was very interested in what we had to say and assured us that he would review our concerns and issues. He said his department remained committed to doing as much as they can ahead of the City of Culture and acknowledged the need for investment in the North West region,” she concluded.