Speeding issues lead to calls for urgent action

A number of ‘close calls’ in the village had prompted concerned residents to contact Delores Kelly MLA and a site meeting was arranged on April 9, in Loughbrickland with the PSNI and Roads Service to see what measures could be implemented.

Alex Attwood, who until last year was the minister responsible for road safety in Northern Ireland, also lent his support to the campaign.

“This is not a new issue” said SDLP Councillor Seamus Doyle, who has been involved with the campaign for several years now.

“Residents have been concerned about speed issues on Scarva Street. There are also two schools in the area, which means children are at risk especially in the morning rush hour traffic.

“We will pursue the DOE until they do something about it. In the meantime the DOE have agreed to put counters in place to monitor the amount and flow of traffic.”

Councillor Marie Hamilton also attended the meeting and said: “residents are concerned about getting across Scarva Street safely. Thankfully there have been no major accidents to date, but there have nonetheless been a few close calls. The problem with a small village is that while drivers tend to speed through them there are rarely any prosecutions resulting from this.

“While 30 mph isn’t considered fast, at times in a small village this can be extremely fast, causing a lot of people a lot of worry. For example, one resident said he had to rush across the road to get out of the way of an oncoming car and although he was well and able to do this, he said what about those not so able, such as the elderly or children in our community?

“These problems have been ongoing for a long time now.”

Roads Service have agreed to carry out a survey to assess what measures can be implemented.