Work on the new A6 is in the home straight

Thousands of commuters use the road daily and as well as improving their journeys it is viewed by industrialists and politicians as an important economic lifeline for the Mid Ulster district.

The first phase of the development linking A6 dual carriageway from Randalstown to Toome was completed in August of last year.

A Department of Infrastructure spokesperson told the Mail on Tuesday that a weekend closure of the A6 from the Castledawson Roundabout to the Brecart Roundabout at Toome from 10pm tomorrow (Friday), will enable works to be carried out to link the new dual carriageway with the existing road network.

She said: “Diversions will be in place. This will allow traffic to use the new dual carriageway between Toome and the Broagh for the first time on Monday morning. A 40mph mandatory speed limit will be in place between Toome bypass and Castledawson Roundabout.

“Traffic has been running one lane in each direction from the Broagh to Castledawson Roundabout for some time. This latest change will see traffic running one lane in each direction all the way between the Toome bypass and Castledawson Roundabout. New junctions at the Creagh and Hillhead Road will also open permitting access to and from the new dual carriageway. The new junction at Deerpark Road will open in coming weeks.”

Local Sinn Féin MP Francie Molloy said he welcomed the completion of this latest section of the A6 road.

Mr Molloy said: “It’s great to see the road open up and the change that it brings. It will certainly be a welcome addition by the many thousands of road users who travel the route on a daily basis as well as local communities who live with the volume of traffic.

" I sincerely believe and hope that this development will bring about new opportunities locally, increased connectivity for Mid Ulster residents and improved safety for all.” Continuing, Mr Molloy said as with any project there have been various challenges and issues that arose during contruction and completion.

“But in the overall context of a major road development I feel that the end product has been worthwhile,” he went on.

“We will continue to work with the Department of Infrastructure to resolve any outstanding issues and to ensure that the local community is once again reconnected following completion of all works along the site.”

DUP Mid Ulster MLA Keith Buchanan said welcomed the progress made on the A6 to date.

“This is good news not only for regular commuters but for the business and industrial sectors that will depend on good infrastructure in the future,” said Mr Buchanan, who sits on the Committee for Infrastructure.

He said he hoped that the completion of the development would lead to work commencing on the Cookstown and Moneymore Bypasses.

“The importance of a good roads network cannot be over emphasised and I welcome the progress that has been made on the A6 which should be completed early in 2021,” he added.

SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone said the opening of this section of the road would be good for people coming from the direction of south Derry and further afield. He said he had a site meeting with department representatives and local residents to iron out one or two “nitty gritty issues”.

Mr McGlone said it would ease the journeys of thousands of commuters but expressed concern about the deteriorating condition of surrounding roads, such as Aughrim Road, which had been used as a shortcut while work was taking place on the A6.

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