Debate contribution: Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Debate contribution by Mr Doug Beattie MC on 24 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Doug Beattie MC

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

24 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5463939

Read the official Assembly record

Text

First of all, I thank my colleague Eóin Tennyson for securing this really important Adjournment debate. It is important because we are having a life-saving discussion, so thank you for that. I also thank the Minister for coming to the House to respond to our concerns. Minister, I hope that, in your response, we hear some imaginative thinking, even if it is just thinking as opposed to what you are actually going to do. Thank you for coming along. Certainly, I thank Monica Heaney for being here and acknowledge all those campaigners who have campaigned for that stretch of road to be made safer. Let us be clear about phase 2 of the A1 scheme and what it is supposed to deliver. It is not to build a new road. It is a safety intervention on one of the most dangerous stretches of tarmac in Northern Ireland. It is a £120 million to £130 million project covering 25 kilometres between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland. It will close all the gaps in the central reservation. Just imagine that. On that stretch of the A1, we have a road that has gaps in the central reservation. It is an extremely fast road, and trying to cross it and get into one of those gaps to go in a completely different direction is crazy. It is madness. I used to drive regularly from north Yorkshire to London down the A1. It was changed, section by section, to become the A1(M). You now have the A1 from north Yorkshire — 338 kilometres of it — down to London, with sections of it that are now the A1(M). It does not have any of those central reservations, which are absolutely crazy. The scheme would also install concrete safety barriers and build four new grade-separated junctions. Eóin has already set out the whole issue of the A1 and how it links the M1 in Northern Ireland with the M1 in the Irish Republic, but it is worth setting that out again. It is such an important road, with so many users. The fatalities that we have on it are obscene. The promise was simple: to stop people dying on a road that carries 40,000 vehicles a day. The outcome so far has been a scheme that is in limbo. Technically, the Department has done its groundwork. Procurement began in late 2024, a restricted tender list was notified in May 2025, and Minister O'Dowd ring-fenced up to £30 million for the project. The architecture of delivery was set, but here is the rub: the outcome today is a project that has been frozen in time. Instead of breaking ground as planned in early 2026, we are now looking at a tender process that is being extended into February 2027 just to keep the scheme viable. The only physical outcome so far is that the Department is holding a place in a queue, waiting for a court ruling on the A5, an important project 50 miles away. That brings me to the effects of the delay, which are devastating. The primary effect is going to be loss of life. You cannot have a 25 kilometre stretch of road with vehicles travelling that quickly and other vehicles trying to get across the road to go in the complete opposite direction and believe that we are not going to have accidents. Therefore, in not fixing it, we are accepting that there will be accidents. We are accepting injury and loss of life. Every month that it is stalled is another month in which families in Upper Bann and Lagan Valley risk their lives crossing a dual carriageway with gaps. As campaigners who have lost loved ones have reminded the Minister, this is a matter of life and death. Delays do not just cost money; they cost futures. The secondary effect is that of political and legal paralysis. The delay is not due to funding or design but to the A5 court ruling regarding climate targets. The Department is terrified of launching a project only to be sued for non-compliance with the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. Consequently, we are seeing a contagion of caution. The Minister is waiting for the A5 appeal outcome before moving the A1 scheme forward. That is a failure of risk management, Minister. I genuinely believe that, at times, we have to take risks in order to improve the lives and, in this case, save the lives of people here in Northern Ireland. Are we seriously suggesting that closing the gaps on a road is incompatible with climate targets? If so, our legislation is broken. If not, we are limiting our ability to act. Phase 2 is currently on hold. The legacy of that delay is eroding public trust in Banbridge and the wider areas of Lagan Valley and Upper Bann. Local representatives are calling for the Minister to take action now. The effects are deeply felt by families in Upper Bann. It is important that we stand here and represent those who have suffered loss and injury, and that is why this Adjournment debate is so important. It is important that Minister represents the same constituents whom we represent. I ask her to do that.

870 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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