Transforming transport in Londonderry with Sustrans

Vision

Although there’s considerable disappointment that the much vaunted A5 upgrade scheme can’t go ahead, the news does create a valuable opportunity for progress to be made on other transport improvements within Derry-Londonderry instead.

That’s because this development unexpectedly frees up some £450m of Northern Ireland Executive funding for other purposes.

A clear priority should be bringing forward the full planned £75m upgrade of the Derry-Londonderry to Coleraine railway line.

However, much can also be done to improve transport links within the city.

It’s easy to forget that many people in the city don’t have a car; in fact, census figures show that more than a third (35%) of all households in Derry-Londonderry are in that situation.

So there’s a significant proportion of people who would benefit greatly from measures helping them to use public transport, cycling and walking for journeys – not least in the Waterside and elsewhere on the eastern bank of the Foyle.

Compared to many cities in Great Britain, Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, our sustainable transport infrastructure rates poorly.

Derry-Londonderry is a city without proper bus lanes, with many gaps in its cycle network, poorly maintained pavements and with time-wasting rush hour traffic congestion.

These factors are of particular concern to residents on the east bank as they slow down journey times to and from the city centre.

If just a tiny portion of the newly available funding was used to address those issues, the eastern side of the city could truly be opened up and more closely integrated with the Cityside.