Over 700 street lights replaced at a cost of £2m in Mid and East Antrim

These include 148 at Larne Road Link, Ballymena; 66 at Old Glenarm Road, Larne; 28 at Chester Avenue, Whitehead; 24, Glenburn Park, Glynn; 18, Upper Road, Greenisland and 15 at St Brides Car Park, Carrickfergus.

Overall, Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads Northern Division had an expenditure of £16.5m in the Mid and East Antrim Borough during 2021/22.

This was also spent on structural maintenance such as resurfacing; surface dressing, patching and drainage; routine maintenance including grass cutting and verge maintenance; gully emptying; gritting and snow clearance; traffic “calming”and “active travel”.

A number of “major”asphalt resurfacing programmes were completed in the borough at a cost of £4.5m over a 22km distance on routes including Garron Road, Carnlough; Shanes Hill Road, Larne and Larne Road, Ballymena.

Eight major resurfacing schemes are planned during 2022/23 at a cost of almost £3m covering a distance of 14kms to include Whitesides Road, Ballymena; Rectory Road, Magheramorne and Green Street/Larne Road, Carrickfergus.

Thirty-seven roads have had “bitmac” resurfacing during 2021/22 covering 14 kilometres overall at a cost of £1.2m. Of these, 14 were carried out in Ballymena and surrounding villages; one at Carnalbangh Road, Mullaghsandall Road ;Port Road, Miss Mary’s Loanen and Ballywillan Road, Gleno, outside Larne; two in Larne town at Glenarm Road and Sallagh Park South; Mark Street, Glenarm and none in the Carrickfergus area.

Half this budget has been allocated for “bitmac” resurfacing of 20 routes during 2022/23. There are four in Carrickfergus – Rathlin Heights, Fulmar Avenue, Slievard Heights and Forthill Road; one in Greenisland at Glenisland Terrace; one in Larne town at Albert Street and the remainder, in the Ballymena area.

Forty-three recovery resurfacing schemes have been carried out across the borough at a cost of £1.3m. Twenty-one are proposed during the current financial year with a further investment of £1.3m planned.

Footpath resurfacing has taken place at 14 locations in the borough at a cost of £0.5m with £400k allocated for further resurfacing during this financial year.

Surface dressing is to be carried out across 48 kilometres of road at a cost of £420k.

The sum of £200k is to be spent on sea defences at the A2 Coast Road on repairs during the summer and rockfalls.

A report to councillors also stated the Mid and East Antrim depots based at Kilwaughter in Larne and Ballykeel in Ballymena grit almost 500 kms of road using nine gritters. Salting is completed in just over three hours.

Roads in Mid and and East Antrim were salted 65 times during the 2020/21 winter season.

Listed among proposed traffic schemes for 2022/23 is the provision of a new puffin crossing in the vicinity of Roddensvale School in Larne and at Larne Road, in Harrryville, Ballymena between Slemish College and Wilson Crescent.

Roddensvale School has been liaising with the the borough council and DfI to have a pedestrian crossing installed outside the school to facilitate “safe crossing” to Dixon Park.

Commenting in the report, Alan Keys, Divisional Roads manager, said: “Since 2013, the Department’s resources funding has been insufficient to meet its needs and we have relied on in-year allocations to deliver core services including winter gritting. This continues to be the case for the 2022/23 year.

“As such, the Department is continuing with a limited service policy for routine maintenance activities such as defect repair and gully emptying.”

He added: “The limited service policy allows the Department to repair defects greater than 50mm on all roads including low trafficked rural roads and on high trafficked roads, defects greater than 20mm will also be repaired.

“From next year, a single swathe will be cut along the verges on the strategic road network twice per year. Other areas that are needed for road safety purposes such as sight lines at junctions will also be cut at least twice each year.

“A similar approach will be introduced on heavier trafficked rural roads and on lighter trafficked rural roads, one cut will be carried out late in the growing season.

“At present, a full street lighting repair service continues during 2022/23.”

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter