First Minister promises to work regularly with A75 campaigners
Engineers have made progress in identifying possible routes to bypass the road.
The First Minister is promising to work regularly with campaigners on improvements to the A75.
Yesterday afternoon, John Swinney travelled down the A75 to Crocketford to discuss upgrading the road.
Campaigners and stakeholders including STENA, Belfast Harbour and Road Haulage Association all took turns to engage with the First Minister and each brought up their views on how valuable the A75 is to them and how it impacts their business and day-to-day lives.
An update on funding and progression on a bypass design were addressed and how to move forward.
Swinney says he will make sure that there will be regular communication between the Government and locals.
“I’ll take away these issues that were raised with me. I’ll consider those with the transport secretary and identify what’s the best course of action we can take to try and address the issues that have been put to me today.
“It’s been a helpful and informative discussion that I’ve had with the local community, and I’ll make sure that the concerns that have been addressed to me are considered by the Government and that we’ll maintain the dialogue with the campaigners in this area.”
MSP Finlay Carson requested for the First Minister to meet in person with everyone yesterday to hear first-hand the problems and their need for a solution.
On his way out of the meeting, he said in an interview with Greatest Hits Radio that he was pleased with the outcome.
“We got a fairly clear commitment that Springholm and Crocketford are on the way. We’ve got engineers who have been employed to look at the engineering task when we need to look at the route.”
“That will take some time, maybe a couple of years before we get shovels in the ground.
In the meeting, it was revealed that engineers have already made progress in identifying a route for a bypass for Springholm and Crocketford.
“The first steps have been made. Let’s just hope that they carry out this commitment in a couple of years’ time”, says Carson.
He added that when the time comes, he will consider approaching West Minister for funding as the A75 is part of the Euro Route and is of international importance.
Local campaigner Tam Gaffney brought up several points about the road, including how the Haugh of Urr junction has no safety lane when turning right.
He spoke with our Greatest Hits Radio reporter Ruth Ridley after the meeting and said he felt relieved that Mr Swinney took on board what he was saying and related with what he was saying about the A9.
“I told him we could really do with an extra lane put in at the Haugh of Urr junction as it has been a problem for many years. Other places round about have this lane but unfortunately, we don’t have it, and I think it would be really beneficial and make the road a lot safer.
“This lane would definitely make people feel a lot safer because people turning could sit in this lane and the traffic could still flow. You would not be concerned about being hit from the rear and possibly hit into the face of oncoming traffic.
“He took this on board.”
“I was absolutely delighted that he could come down and listen to all of the points that we had, and they’ll now be taken back to the Minister’s office and hopefully be dealt with soon.
“I think this was the best possible chance we could have had meeting with John Swinney.”