Call for urgent action to repair roads in Magherafelt town centre that are 'rapidly deteriorating'
A Mid Ulster councillor is urging the Department of Infrastructure to urgently put in place a plan of works to address the “rapidly deteriorating” road surface in Magherafelt town centre.
Paul McLean says the road surface now resembles “a patchwork quilt” with an increasing number of potholes, damaged manholes and sunken drains.
He said Castledawson Road, outside St Mary’s Grammar School, Broad Street, Rainey Street and top of Fair Hill are “extremely bad”
The DUP councillor, who has represented the town for more than 36 years, said he can’t remember the roads in the town centre being so bad.
He said he is concerned that the roads will soon be “beyond repair”.
“It’s all very well marking potholes with a yellow circle, but action is needed to repair them and this needs to be done as a matter of urgency,” he said.
He pointed out that a lot of motorists have raised the condition of the roads with him.
" I believe roads in a town centre should take priority given the volume of traffic and their importance to the business life of the town,” he added.
A DfI spokesperson said: “All roads are regularly inspected in line with the Department’s Limited-Service maintenance policy and any road defects meeting the intervention criteria will be passed to our contractor for repair.
“The resurfacing programme for the 2025/2026 financial year has not been finalised. When finalised, details of the resurfacing programme for the Mid Ulster Council area will be included within the Department’s Annual Report to Council and published on the Department’s website.”