LISTEN - Mid Ulster Councillor urges DfI to change policy and guidelines on repairing rural roads

by Gráinne Connolly

Deputy Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Mark Glasgow has written a letter to the Department for Infrastructure regarding their current policies and guidelines for the repairing of rural roads. 

It's following several reports about the state of some roads across the Mid Ulster district, particularly outside Cookstown (Image to the right and below). 

(Ballynasollus Road outside Cookstown) 

Councillor Glasgow told Q Radio that in his letter, he's calling on the Department to change their policies and guidelines in order to bring rural roads back to a safe standard. 

With the way the policy is now, it means that rural roads come last for repairs as main roads remain the priority, and that only potholes at a measure of 4 inches are repaired. 

Unfortunately, this means that the roads are left in a bad state for longer and deteriorate, resulting in disrupting drivers journeys and even damaging vehicles.