Continued progress on roads network
THE road network around Northern Ireland is beginning to look like something that most modern European countries enjoy.
There is still a lot to do, particularly in the west of the province, but even in a time of financial uncertainty, the Northern Ireland Executive has rightly found money to carry out important work on the road infrastructure.
Finance Minister Sammy Wilson yesterday visited one of the biggest road schemes in the province's history.
The 13-mile stretch between Dungannon and Ballygawley has been a slow and dangerous road for many years, but it is now being upgraded to near motorway standard at a cost of 90 million. The project should be finished early next year, which will mean an uninterrupted 51-mile highway from Belfast.
This should speed up access to Fermanagh and Tyrone while hopefully making journeys much safer.
The recently-opened Newry bypass has been a huge success and it means that the two capital cities on the island of Ireland, Belfast and Dublin, are now linked by top class roads.
That is bound to have a positive effect on the economy as well as improving travel times for people going about their daily business or social activities.
But the work must not stop at Ballygawley.
Eventually there must be a highway that circles Northern Ireland, taking in places like Omagh, Strabane, Londonderry and Dungiven, and extending towards major towns like Enniskillen and Coleraine.
Only then can we really claim to have a road network that is truly European class.
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Weather for Belfast
Thursday 24 May 2012
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