BY MARK McKELVEY
Omagh District SDLP Cllr Seamus Shields had expressed his concerns that the Northern Ireland roads authorities are deliberately hindering plans for the upgrade of the A5 route that will create a dual carriageway from Aughnacloy to Derry.
He was speaking after attending the All Island Infrastructure Investment Conference held last week in Dublin where the project was mentioned by Noel Dempsey, the Republic's Transport Minister stressing the Dublin Government's investment commitment of £400 million towards this 88km project which he envisaged would be complete within five years.
However, according to Cllr Shields when a senior DRD official addressed the event the following day it was clear that other road improvement schemes were being accorded much higher priority by the Roads Service here.
Cllr shields instead indicated that The Draft Delivery Timetable concerning the preliminary statutory procedures for the A5 scheme involving the preparation and publication of the Environmental Statement; Direction Orders and Vesting Orders will not be put in place before late 2010. Cllr Shields also revealed that references to widening and straightening the existing A5 route were made at this conference despite the fact that an entire new road had already been promised.
He said, "I am becoming increasingly concerned that the Northern Ireland Roads Service is actively hindering the proposed new Aughnacloy-Derry dual carriageway scheme.
"There are grounds for believing that DRD is not pursuing the A5 project with the same degree of enthusiasm that is being accorded to the other so-called key transport corridors.
"At the present rate of progress by DRD a ten-year delivery time for the A5 scheme would appear very optimistic.
"Given that a figure of £400m has been included in the Republic's National Development Plan for the scheme, the longer the project is delayed the less valuable this contribution becomes.
"I believe that DRD Roads Service here needs to bring a far greater commitment and sense of urgency to this much needed scheme. Delay is not only damaging the economy of the north-west region but the present standard of the road is totally unacceptable from a safety point of view," he complained.
Responding to Cllr Shields concerns a DRD spokesperson said, "Owing to the recently announced initiative to dual the A5 Derry to Aughnacloy (the border) route, there are no interim plans to undertake any improvements to the existing A5 Omagh to Ballygawley route apart from routine structural maintenance of this carriageway.
"The nature and route of a dual carriageway is presently being assessed and developed with a view to determining a preferred route corridor. The route may be combination of on-line widening of existing carriageway and new carriageway depending on the constraints identified along the route.
"The class of dual carriageway with regards to the nature of the junctions is yet to be determined, however, it is anticipated that certain junctions will be served by over bridges while others may have cross -overs on the central median. The type of the preferred junctions will depend on the topography, traffic flows and complexity of traffic movements at any one location."
Meanwhile DUP Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Lord Morrow has welcomed the commencement of works on the A4 between Dungannon and Ballygawley roundabout.
The three year project officially commenced yesterday (Wednesday) and will result in a new and safer dual carriageway route with reduced journey times for users.
