Calls for action on Co Down “road of death” before more people killed

Mournes councillor has recounted first hand evidence of fatalities on the Newcastle to Kilkeel road

Councillors are calling for a Co Down “road of death” to undergo “urgent” repairs before anyone else is killed on the main route.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) approved a motion this week to ask Minister of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Liz Kimmins to take action.

Major concerns were raised in chambers on the A2 route between Newcastle and Rostrevor with a councillor’s alluding to 45 of his own friends’ deaths being “just the tip of the iceberg”.

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Bringing forward the motion, Mournes SDLP councillor Laura Devlin said: “The route between Newcastle and Kilkeel is one of the main arterial routes in our district affecting many thousands of residents. Many will say that the department does not have the money to carry out the necessary resurfacing. “However, in the last five years the department has paid out £32m in claims for compensation in associated costs of our road network. Almost £8m of that was in this district alone. “This should paint a really stark picture for us that our roads are in dire straits. We need the Minister to take real and immediate action to address this.” Mournes DUP councillor, Glyn Hanna added: “I have worked in the motor trade for some 40 odd years and I don’t believe there is one corner of that road that I haven’t recovered a vehicle from. “They talk about the A5 being a deadly road, but when I think of the fatalities on the A2, I had to stop at 45, but I just kept thinking of more. “It is horrendous the amount of deaths there have been. I remember a young man of 17 or 18 years old, who worked for me and his girlfriend, being in a fatal crash. I just happened to be the first one at the accident, close to the Orange Hall in Ballymartin. I couldn’t describe their injuries to you, they were that bad. But, talk about strange times, I recall Fr Casey coming down and kneeling on the Orange Hall steps and doing the necessary.”

The elected member recalled many more road crash fatalities to the chamber in great detail before making an amendment for a full inspection and repairs to pinch points once resurfacing was done. He added: “The fatalities I have talked about are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve had so many friends killed on that road, I am so passionate about this motion. “The A2 is a road of death, it needs a massive upgrade. There are parts of the infrastructure from as far back as the famine, that’s how long ago it was built. And to be quite honest to be dependent on that type of infrastructure is just wrong. I don’t want to see anybody else killed.”

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