‘Road repairs must be prioritised in new allocations’ – McNulty

SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty has called for the repair of local roads to be prioritised as £8.1million additional funds have been allocated to the Department of Infrastructure by the head of the Department of Finance.

Speaking to Newry Times, McNulty explained, “The Head of the Department of Finance has announced the re-allocation of in-year monies to various departments as part of the December Monitoring Round and the Department of Infrasture has been allocated an additional £8.1million.

“This is a welcome reallocation and must be used to repair our crumbling road network. The condition of many of our roads are nothing short of a disgrace, and it is quite evident that the starving of resources is really having an impact.

“My office and our team of elected representatives have been inundated with complaints from local motorists with many roads being described as being in an unacceptable state. Vehicles are being damaged and I am constantly directing people to the Department of Infrastructure’s Central Claims Unit,” he continued.

“In a recent meeting with the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Infrastructure, I pressed for urgent action and was advised that unless a pot-hole is four inches deep it doesn’t warrant repair.

“This is completely unacceptable with many roads, and not just minor roads, crumbling in front of our eyes. It might even be easier to list the roads that don’t need repairs than those that do. On some roads your entire focus is on dodging the potholes.

The local MLA added, “Road maintenance, including the repair of potholes and drainage improvements must be prioritised for works under this funding allocation. I will continue to pass through roads lists of local roads in need of repair which have been raised with me.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Jan 19 2018. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry