Residents call for action over ‘lethal’ stretch of road

The A50 Banbridge to Portadown Road at Tullylish which has seen anumber of accidents over the past few weeks © Edward Byrne Photography INBL51-220EB

On December 12 fire crews, police and the ambulance service were called to all three accidents at the Banbridge Road in Gilford, a “lethal” stretch according to local residents, who said they face road closures each week due to accidents.

Roisin Foster suffered broken ribs and toes as well multiple bruising when her car collided with a lorry at a sharp bend on the road a week ago.

The 57-year-old from Scarva described her trauma after having to climb over to the passenger side, force the door open and crawl away from the car.

“It was very traumatic,” said Mrs Foster. “I am very conscious that I could have been killed. I feel I am a psychologically strong person certainly given the work I do, but this has really shaken me up.”

When Roisin’s husband Ian came home to tell her there had been two further crashes on the road they were both dismayed.

Police confirmed the road reopened at 3.50pm after the first accident on Thursday December 12 and was closed again at 4.55pm to deal with a second crash. In the first accident a female in her 30s had to be cut from the car, and a short time later four people were taken to hospital after a second separate crash.

Mr Foster said he cannot understand why no action is being taken on the road despite the high number of accidents. “There seems to be a lack of motivation to do anything about it,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be ringing any alarm bells with whoever should be dealing with it.”

Local resident Niall McCartan, whose driveway is opposite a memorial for a person who died in a crash there in 2008, said more needs to be done to tackle the problem on that stretch of road. He says that he has spoken to Roads Service a number of times in recent weeks, following on from a meeting with them in October.

He explained: “This stretch of the road is lethal. We have spoken to the police and DRD on many occasions to have something done about it. There have been crashes – major and minor – on an average of once a week for years.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Regional Development said they are working with the police to improve road safety.