News

30th June 09
6/30/2009

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA, Tom Elliott, has told the Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy that "there is a crying need for additional road spend in the constituency."

Fermanagh and South Tyrone roads like an “obstacle course” – Elliott
 
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA, Tom Elliott, has told the Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy that “there is a crying need for additional road spend in the constituency.”
 

In a statement, the Ulster Unionist MLA said: In a debate in the Assembly on Monday, I made it clear to Minister Murphy that the condition of many roads in Fermanagh and South Tyrone is simply dire. One example that I highlighted was the A32, the Omagh to Enniskillen road. Due to the building of the new acute hospital in Fermanagh, it is vital that that road be upgraded as soon as possible. A couple of schemes are under way, but they are not enough. One part of the A32, between Mossfield and Trory roundabout, has developed cracks that are so bad that the Roads Service has had to pour concrete directly into them. I know of many other similar stories throughout the constituency, and it is imperative that action is taken sooner rather than later.”

 

“Based on figures quoted during the debate, the road spend for Fermanagh has fallen from £3.48m in 2003-2004 to 1.4m in 2008-2009. That is fall of some 57%. However, the equivalent figure for Northern Ireland as a whole shows a fall from £82.8m in 2003-2004 to £59m in 2008-2009. That is fall of 29%. This means that Fermanagh’s drop in spend has been much more significant than that experienced in other parts of the country. This is a very serious imbalance and I have called on the Minister to look into this matter. Fermanagh people should not be treated as ‘second class’ citizens when it comes to road spend.” 

 

“Notably, in the past year, and in the past few months in particular, hardly any requests have been made for speed ramps or traffic-calming measures in the constituency. I assume that that is because we have in-built traffic-calming measures on nearly all our roads: they are called potholes. Many local people see traveling our roads as a type of ‘obstacle course’ for vehicles, so goodness knows what tourists think when they come to visit. Certainly it would do nothing to encourage them to come back, and yet tourism is one of the biggest employers and money making areas of industry in the constituency.”
“Minister Murphy must realise that our need for better road provision is great. It is vital that he does what he can to increase the money available for road spend in the constituency, otherwise the already woeful condition of some roads will only get worse and end up costing the taxpayer more in the future.”




Back to other news articles...