Debate contribution: A20 Portaferry Road, Newtownards: Road Safety Improvements

Debate contribution by Miss Michelle McIlveen on 12 March 2024.

MLA

Miss Michelle McIlveen

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

12 March 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

A20 Portaferry Road, Newtownards: Road Safety Improvements

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4267234

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. First, I thank the Minister for Infrastructure for being present to respond to this important Adjournment debate on road safety along the A20 Portaferry Road in my Strangford constituency. I was under the impression that the Minister might not have been in attendance. For those of us who bring issues to the House, particularly in constituency-specific Adjournment debates, it is incredibly important for Ministers to hear for themselves the issues and concerns on the subjects from constituency representatives. I am pleased that we have the opportunity to discuss what is a huge concern to my constituents. My remarks will cover a number of issues concerning the A20, which runs from the Portaferry Road roundabout in Newtownards to Inishargy Road in Kircubbin. The issues include flooding, coastal erosion, pedestrian safety and driver safety. The Portaferry Road largely runs along the shore of Strangford lough. It is winding road, with a number of blind bends and hills. It is the busiest road on the Ards peninsula and serves as the most direct route for many of the villages on the peninsula to get to Newtownards and onwards to Belfast and other destinations. However, it is a dangerous road. In the past eight months alone, the Portaferry Road has been closed nine times for a variety of reasons. That, of course, only gives an indication of where an incident has occurred that required a road closure; there have been a large number of accidents and incidents along that road that do not result in road closures. Two of those closures were as a result of cars going off the road. Five were caused by traffic accidents, and the other four were the result of flooding.

While, thankfully, none of the recent closures had any fatalities, in recent memory there have sadly been deaths due to accidents along this stretch of road. In July 2022, a motorcyclist died after crashing into a wall. The previous month, another motorcyclist was killed when he was involved in a collision with a car just outside Newtownards. In January 2020, a lady died in a car accident just past Teal Rocks when her car left the road. In August 2020, an 87-year old passenger in a car was killed when the driver attempted to overtake on a blind hill near Kircubbin. In September 2018, another motorcyclist died after a collision with a bus. That was just a month after a man had to be pulled from a flaming vehicle following a two-vehicle collision. In 2014, an eighteen-year-old girl also lost her life following a collision. All tragic accidents that have left far too many families grieving. While I have referred to two cars leaving the road in the past nine months, there were further incidents in May 2023 and July 2022, and, of course, we are all familiar with the images of the bus that ended up in Strangford lough in 2015, which made the headlines. There is no doubt, given those incidents, that this is a dangerous road. Of course, what I have outlined are the incidents that have been reported. There are incidents that have not been reported and those that have been close shaves. Ask anyone who lives in Teal Rocks or those who regularly exit Finlay's Road about how safe they feel and how many near misses there have been. I am regularly contacted, as, I am sure, my colleagues are, by constituents complaining about the safety of the road. If I take Teal Rocks as an example, a number of the incidents that I have referred to occurred in that vicinity. It is a housing development on the edge of Newtownards of more than 170 homes. Those residents already face issues, but planning permission has been obtained for an additional 100 houses on a neighbouring piece of land that will use the exit at Teal Rocks onto the A20. There are understandable concerns that having more vehicles exiting will increase the risk of further collisions at the junction. The residential junction opens onto a 60 mph road. I raised that issue with the permanent secretary during the suspension of the Assembly. When the Assembly was restored, I asked the Minister if further consideration was being given to reducing the speed limit as a result of those additional houses. I was informed that:

"the current speed limit on the A20 Portaferry Road is 60mph (national speed limit) and is in line with the Department’s current policy document".

That is considered to be appropriate. From what I understand, the most recent review of the speed limit took place in 2017. However, the vast majority of the incidents that I have referred to have occurred since 2020. There is a danger with being a slave to policy, and that danger is being passed on to the users of the Portaferry Road. A connected issue is the footpath that links Teal Rocks with Newtownards. It is in serious need of an upgrade. It is incredibly narrow and dangerous, given the volume of traffic, and walking a dog or pushing a pram is treacherous. The residents of Teal Rocks are terrified to use the footpath. When that was raised with the Department, we were told that it needs to be upgraded by the proposed developer of the land between Teal Rocks and the Old Shore Road. The planning permission for that piece of land has been continually renewed for the past 30 years, and it is increasingly unlikely that the land will ever be developed. While the Department prevaricates and delays, the residents suffer an increasing risk as the road gets busier and more dangerous. Setting aside the general condition of the road, which is the result of years of chronic underinvestment by the Department — disproportionate underinvestment, due to the flawed means of distributing funding to the council area — there are major engineering issues that need to be addressed along the road. The road, being largely along the edge of Strangford lough, is increasingly susceptible to coastal erosion. On a number of occasions, voids have opened under the road. There is evidence of erosion at Anne's Point and the sea wall approaching Newtownards. As that continues, there will continue to be risks of other voids opening. When I was Regional Development Minister, I commissioned an extensive assessment of the road following the tidal surge at that time, which resulted in essential remedial works being carried out. However, a number of storms have recently battered that coastline. On four occasions in the last four months, the road has been closed due to surface water and flooding during severe weather incidents. One of the areas that are being adversely impacted is at Nunsquarter, where the Inishargy Road meets the Portaferry Road, and another is near the Maltings, just beyond Teal Rocks. Those areas are getting more susceptible to flooding, which affects the integrity of the road surface. Both issues pose risks to drivers and vehicles. The Department seriously needs to look at the way that it spends money. We have had £80 million spent on the A5 and £24 million spent on the York Street interchange, with not a sod cut. While I appreciate the challenges with each of those projects, a small portion of any of those budgets would make huge improvements to safety along the Portaferry Road. We could start by moving the national speed limit to take into account the settlement limit of Newtownards. We could also stop slavishly following policy and address the risks to the public and upgrade the footpath from Teal Rocks into Newtownards to create a safe walking environment. A further assessment of the integrity of this vital road is needed, and there must be funding for those repairs, not just patching of what is there. Addressing those flooding flashpoints now would save considerable expense at a later date. We must invest in addressing the dangers of those accident black spots along the road. It is not good enough to blame driver error: there are blind corners and blind hills that, with the appropriate design and funding, could be engineered out. We do not need a major dualling scheme like the A5; we just need a safe road.

1,373 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:50 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification