By Sarah Curran
A KILLINCHY road has over 100 defects and potholes within less than a mile, a local councillor has said.
Alderman Philip Smith has recently counted the defects along the Beechvale Road, from the Balloo junction to Main Street, and said he believed the road needed ‘proper resurfacing and not just more quick fixes’.
He said it is a busy road that wasn’t designed to cope with the large volume of HGV traffic that ‘eats away’ at the carriageway. It is also the main road to a large primary school, as well as servicing a growing community.
“I had previously referred to the road as an assault course in this paper in February 2024. Since then significant patching was undertaken a year ago and I applauded the work at the time,” said the UUP politician. “Unfortunately the potholes have returned and the road has deteriorated once again. The returning potholes are forcing vehicles to pull into the oncoming lane.
“I understand that resources are at a premium but this needs to be prioritised before there is an accident. Short term fixes won’t work on this road anymore, it needs to be completely resurfaced.”
Mr Smith said he believed the roads in Northern Ireland to be a ‘disgrace’, adding that the roads in Ards and North Down were placed in an ‘even worse position’ by the policies of the Department for Infrastructure.
“I have pushed again and again to highlight this unfairness to the Department,” he said.
“Indeed I raised it directly with the Minister Liz Kimmins as part of a council delegation to Stormont last June when I highlighted that Ards and North Down only receives £18 investment per person per year in our roads which is a third or less than our adjoining council areas.
“The worst roads and the least investment is compounded by the Department’s policy to allocate funding by road length rather than traffic volume, so that our busy roads receive less budget to fix wear and tear than areas with lots of country roads with limited traffic.
“Just look at the A22 Killinchy to Comber road with its potholes and compare it to other similar A roads in other parts of Northern Ireland.”
Mr Smith called on the Infrastructure Minister to give Ards and North Down their ‘fair share’ and to review their funding formula for roads.
“I understand that there are similar examples of roads that need significant investment across the borough but I would struggle to think of a road in such a bad shape with such heavy use. A good start for the Minister would be to urgently provide investment to resurface the Beechvale Road.”
