DfI branded 'unaccountable and highly dysfunctional' at council as row over A5 appeal stalling £190m of other major road projects continues

As the News Letter revealed last month, three large-scale projects have been put on hold while Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins appeals a court’s decision to block a planned rebuild of the A5 road from Londonderry to the border at Co Monaghan on environmental grounds.

The Sinn Fein minister argues the A5 legal case needs to be dealt with first, as its verdict could impact the construction of a bypass at Enniskillen and a pedestrian and cycle bridge over Belfast’s River Lagan, as well long-delayed safety improvements to junctions on the A1 road between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland.

Politicians on Belfast Council today angrily criticised the pedestrian bridge being given a red light, casting doubt on the idea that environmental concerns would hold up a project that doesn’t involve cars.

Green councillor Bryan Smith labelled the stated reason for putting the bridge on hold “really disingenuous”, adding: “It’s not about climate versus roads, this is department versus competency.

“This is a department that is unaccountable and has been highly dysfunctional for years, it’s not a recent thing. Numerous ministers have gone into the department with the best of intentions, but it’s a meat-grinder.

“As Greens, from where we are looking at it, it seems like a handful of civil servants are calling the shots, and that’s to the detriment of people across Northern Ireland.”

The SDLP’s Seamus de Faoite said he found the department’s reason for stalling the bridge “baffling” as it’s “an active travel project”.

He wanted the council to write to Ms Kimmins “expressing deep frustration” that the project has “ground to a halt”, adding: “It should have a positive net benefit to the department’s responsibilities in relation to climate change.”

An official on the local authority said he this week told DfI officials the decision to put the bridge on hold “makes no sense” and leaves the council “watching construction inflation drag this further and further away from us”.

The council agreed to write to the minister, urging her to kickstart the pedestrian and cycle bridge plans.

Costed at £23m to £28m, the Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge is to be a major addition to the south of Belfast close to the city centre. It’s designed to link Ormeau Embankment with the former site of the capital’s old gasworks, now offices and commercial development.

First suggested more than 10 years ago, around half of its funding comes from the Belfast City Region Deal – a time-limited cash pot that expires in a decade.

Enniskillen’s £36m project is to build a 1.3-mile road to the south of the Co Fermanagh town including bridges across two rivers, reducing traffic jams in the heart of Enniskillen itself and improving journey times for drivers as well as improving safety by adding overtaking lanes, plus a cycleway and pedestrian crossings.

The A1 scheme has been priced between £120m and £130m, and will rework junctions on 15 miles of a dual carriageway between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland. On the cards since 2006 but repeatedly delayed, it’s to add important safety features such as new flyover intersections while closing gaps in its central reservation.