Update sought on Ballyclare relief road project

At a meeting of the council’s Planning and Consultation Committee on June 9, Alderman McCudden claimed that the traffic situation in the town centre was becoming “more chronic by the day”. But he said that by delivering even one short section of the relief road - from Templepatrick Road to Doagh Road - the department could reduce traffic in the town centre by 60 per cent. He added that he had met with the Minister to discuss the matter and that he “could not highlight the plight of people in the town enough.”

Ald. McCudden said that while the stretch of road in question represented only a fraction of the bypass, it would release traffic from several residential areas.

He stated that this could reduce town centre traffic by two thirds, adding: “It wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would reduce it significantly.”

DRD Northern Division Manager, Deirdre Mackle replied that a number of options were being considered. But she stated that a relief road would be “very expensive” and that capital spend had to be considered within current budget constraints.