‘More notice for road closures’

Sinn Fein’s Liam Mackle made the call after residents and business owners in Magheralin contacted him about the closure of the New Forge Road on Monday (September 26).

The road is to be closed for resurfacing for eight days.

Cllr Mackle claimed this would cause a “significant amount of disruption” to the village.

He said: “The people of Magheralin are happy to have this work carried out and are willing to put up with unavoidable disruption, but they are unhappy about the short period of warning given.

“The shop owners are angry that they were not given more warnings to allow them to adjust the stock levels of perishable goods and make arrangements for staff.

“The local Centra, for example, carry large supplies of fresh produce and they are a significant employer in the village with fifteen staff, who have to be kept in employment.”

Cllr Mackle contacted Road Services about the road closure and raised the feasibility of keeping one side of the road open at a time but was informed this was not possible due to Health and Safety requirements.

He did however receive a commitment that the work would be prioritized.

He said: “Road Service has given a commitment to complete this work inside of the allocated period with minimum disruption and have assured me that residents’ access to their homes and pedestrian access to the shops will be maintained.”