DfI representative at City Hall said he was “not aware” of a survey for stretch of A55 which was promised to councillor and residents.
A Belfast councillor has confronted Stormont representatives over road safety along a stretch of the ring road in South Belfast.
DUP Councillor for Balmoral Sarah Bunting this week chided reps from the Department for Infrastructure regarding their lack of response to safety and travel issues facing residents from the Belvoir and Milltown estates living in the A55 Milltown Road area.
She made comments at a special meeting of the Belfast Council City Growth and Regeneration Committee during the annual Department for Infrastructure presentation before the council at Belfast City Hall this week.
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Councillor Bunting said: “We are all well aware there are some funding issues within the departments, but obviously we are here at the discretion of our constituents.” She said the dangerous nature of the road was “the biggest issue I have raised to me.”
She added: “There have been a number of serious accidents on that road in the past couple of years. The pedestrian crossing, which crosses from Belvoir estate to Milltown estate, was put there because a couple of residents had lost their lives crossing that road.
“We are at the point where people don’t slow down to the 40mph, they are going through the red light at the pedestrian crossing, and there have been serious accidents at that point, as well as at the other end of the estate, where I believe the traffic lights have been replaced seven times in the past two years.”
She said: “We had a public meeting with representatives from DfI and the PSNI in February 2024. Both myself and Edwin Poots MLA have been in touch on numerous times since then about what came out of that meeting. We have had no response. Edwin spoke to the Minister at the time and we were promised there would be a survey carried out on the road in February this year.”
She also referred to the difficulty of residents trying to leave the estates in their cars, adding: “This is raised with me multiple times every week: people trying to leave their homes in Milltown estate are having to spend 20 minutes just to leave the Milltown hill junction, because cars are coming from the Ballylesson Road. 20 minutes to move 20 yards.
“I know you have considered previously putting traffic lights at the entrance to Milltown, but it was way down the list. Has a survey been carried out on that road?”
The DfI representative at the meeting said he was “not aware” of a survey for the road. Another DfI representative said they “were aware of the issues on the road” and believed the survey was yet to be carried out, adding the department had “resources issues.” He said he “would raise the matter with traffic colleagues.”
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