‘Giant’ pothole on Glenshane Pass
The allocation will fund an estimated 40 to 50 resurfacing schemes across the North of Ireland.
Speaking following an Assembly statement from the Minister for Infrastructure, the Foyle MLA said: “Recently a constituent quipped that we used to drive on the left of the road, now we drive on what’s left of the road.
“It’s good to see long awaited investment in our crumbling road network.
“People have become too accustomed with the ‘crater-effect’ on our roads with many falling foul of some particularly nasty potholes due to the department’s inability to deliver basic maintenance functions.
“The cumulative negative impact of not having an Executive has been especially harrowing for our roads given DfI’s reliance on in year monitoring rounds to boost their budget.
“£1 million investment in resurfacing programmes while a drop in the ocean, is a welcome start.
“Although I fear the sticking plaster approach will remain in many areas with temporary fixes proving a costly and ineffective way to manage the deterioration of our road network.
“For example, the Northland Road in the Foyle constituency currently resembles Swiss-cheese- it’s been temporarily fixed multiple times in recent weeks but problems persist.
“The pennywise, pound foolish approach has exacerbated problems not only on our roads but for roads staff who are returning to repair the same areas time and time again.
“DfI’s baseline budget has never been enough, their routine maintenance budget hasn’t increased in over five years.
“This harkens back to when its predecessor department, the Department for Regional Development under Danny Kennedy had its budget decimated by DUP and Sinn Féin when we did have an Executive.
“I’m aware these issues aren’t exclusive to DfI – our crumbling roads are just a very visible microcosm of the wider deterioration of public services after so many years of austerity.
“There needs to be a conscience effort not only to increase funding but to review existing repair policy to ensure money is spent strategically.”
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