A1 upgrade: Minister must take action ‘immediately’

It comes as campaigners delivered their concerns relating to the lack of significant progress on Phase 2 plans to Minister O’Dowd, and MLAs on the Infrastructure Committee.

They also approached the Business Committee about formally presenting a public petition to the Assembly.

Ciara Sands, girlfriend of Karl Heaney had planned to travel to England to live with her boyfriend in 2018, where he was due to begin a teaching course.

But tragedy struck when Karl was travelling home from GAA training on the section of carriageway between Banbridge and Dromore.

Ciara said lack of meaningful communication between the Department for Infrastructure and Karl's family prompted the petition.

"This is a major dual carriageway that just isn’t fit for purpose,” she said.

“We have been waiting for upgrades on this road for years, and in that time so many other families have sadly been impacted.

"Every time I see that another person has crashed on this road, it brings the feelings right back.

"It simply shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.”

Phase 2 upgrades aim to provide further safety improvements along the A1 between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland, including provision of new grade-separated junctions, the closing of all gaps in the central reservations (cv), and the provision of continuous cv safety barriers.

Between 2002 and 2019 there have been 661 collisions and 41 people killed on the A1.

Ciara said the time has come for the Minister to take ‘immediate action’ in a bid to prevent further loss of life.

"Everyone wants this road to be upgraded, it should have been done years ago, and I just can’t understand why it has ben put off,” she said.

"The pain of Karl’s death will never leave me, and we’re just one of the families to feel the impact."

Ciara sent this message to the Minister at the helm of the Department: "Put yourself in our shoes.

"If you had to drive this road everyday, and recall the heartbreak, I’m sure you would feel the same way we do.

"Nothing can be done for us, it’s already too late because we have lost Karl, but take action now, to prevent others from going though this.”

There are widespread fears that with legal challenges regarding land ownership, upgrade plans for the A1 could be delayed further.

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said: “The Department is currently exploring options to deliver the project in phases through smaller schemes, which would increase the opportunities for parts of the project to be delivered earlier.

“Work is progressing on this, however, we require confirmation of funding before it can be procured.”