Roads issues raised across the district

Representatives from Roads Service presented their Interim Report to the council and answered a number of questions raised by the members with topics ranging from budget cuts to speed limits.

Councillor Hazel Gamble asked what impact budget cuts would have on future resurfacing schemes.

Southern Divisional Roads Manager for Roads Service, Simon Richardson, explained: “Resurfacing schemes are funded from the Capital budget, which has remained relatively unaffected by budget cuts at present. If additional capital funding is made available through monitoring rounds, additional schemes will be added to the programme.”

Councillor David Heron asked the Roads Service to reassess the ‘yellow box’ proposal for Main Street in Rathfriland as he felt it had been initially assessed on the wrong day.

Mr Richardson said he had spoken to the PSNI about the issue, who confirmed they had “no concerns regarding this junction. I have arranged for it to be monitored again over the next few weeks however, at present there are no plans to provide a yellow box at this junction.”

Mr Herron also requested that consideration be given to the reduction of the speed limit at the Moneyslane junction from 40mph to 30mph.

Mr Richardson advised that the Roads Service Traffic Section was considering this request in conjunction with the PSNI.

Councillor Junior McCrum requested the provision of a pedestrian crossing in Loughbrickland to facilitate a partially sighted resident.

However, Mr Richardson said that the possibility of a crossing was considered in September and “fell well below the threshold required.”

Mr Richardson continued: “Previous proposals for a traffic calming scheme met with objections from local residents which could not be resolved. As a result very little of the original proposals were implemented and the scheme was abandoned. As a consequence clear evidence of strong and widespread community support would be required before a scheme would be brought forward again.”

Councillor Olive Mercer requested confirmation of when Slane Court footway in Moneyslane would be provided and questioned the status of the land acquisition.

Responding to Mrs Mercer’s query. Mr Richardson explained: “This has been discussed with the adjacent landowner and it has been agreed that a works order can be issued within the next few weeks. I am hopeful that this footway can be provided within six to eight weeks.”

Answering a query by Councillor Elizabeth Ingram about the missing flashing SRS sign at Glasker for Bronte School, Mr Richardson said: “This sign was damaged in a road traffic collision and has been returned to the manufacturer for the necessary repairs to be carried out. It is hoped to have it re-erected in the near future when these repairs are complete.