​Minister must act now on A1: Dodds

The Upper Bann representative has called for work to begin almost seven years after upgrades to the carriageway were proposed in 2017.

Mrs Dodds said, “As we are all to aware the A1 is an extremely dangerous section of road which unfortunately has claimed 40 lives in 17 years.

"I impressed upon the Minister the issues which those living in the area face day and daily. The volume of traffic, the speed and the number of junctions which allow traffic to cross the carriage way all add to the risks to users.

INQUIRY

“Upgrades have been proposed since 2017 with a public inquiry 2020 which agreed with the need for upgrading the route. In 2021 Minister Mallon approved the A1 road improvement scheme. Yet in 2024 we still await work to begin.

"I have written to Minister O’Dowd as far back as 2022 and I’m concerned with the lack of progress to date.”

The DUP MLA thanked Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA for joining her at the meeting and also paid tribute to Alderman Paul Greenfield for attending the meeting and organising the venue.

Mrs Dodds concluded: “I, along with my colleagues, will continue to press the Minister for urgent action to upgrade the A1.

"The need is clear and the time for action is now. While the Department continue to dither and delay, lives are very much at risk.”