Debate contribution: Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 24 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Jonathan Buckley

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

24 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Roads: A1 Junctions Phase 2

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5463949

Read the official Assembly record

Text

We can all agree that the decision to delay phase 2 of the A1 junctions scheme by a further 12 months is deeply concerning and is causing nothing but further worry and anxiety for those who live on and travel along the route and for those who, sadly, have lost loved ones on it. It is not just another infrastructure project. Rather, it is a £130 million investment in safety on one of the most critical and dangerous strategic routes in Northern Ireland. The stretch of the A1 between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland, serving the Upper Bann and Lagan Valley constituencies, is well known to all of us in the Chamber. It is a high-speed dual carriageway that carries significant volumes of traffic each and every day, yet, despite its importance, it remains fundamentally flawed in its design. We still have dangerous right-turn movements across central reservation gaps, as well as junctions that were never intended for the level of traffic flow and types of vehicles that they now carry. Tragically, we have the consequences to prove that. Over a 17-year period, 41 people have lost their lives along that corridor. I commend Monica Heaney for having the courage and bravery to come to the Assembly today. I imagine that each and every occasion on which she hears the A1 mentioned must bring back very painful memories.

I will indeed.

The Member makes a very valid point. Some 661 collisions have occurred on the A1 over that same 17-year period. How many of those could have been fatalities? Let me be very clear that those 41 deaths are not just statistics. Rather, they represent lives lost, families devastated and communities left grieving because of flawed design. Departmental analysis itself has acknowledged that the road carries particular risks because of its right-turn junctions on a high-speed route. That is exactly why phase 2 of the A1 scheme is so vital. Closing the central reservation gaps and delivering grade-separated junctions will finally bring the road up to an adequate safety standard. How therefore can it be justified that that life-saving project is now being delayed yet again because of a court ruling on another project and the inevitable fallout from the Climate Change Act, and from specific amendments to it in particular? That is the elephant in the room. It is the reason that the A1, the A5 and the A4 Enniskillen southern bypass are facing their particular challenges. I will make this statement here: those will not be the only infrastructure projects that fall foul of poor legislation. Let us call it as it is. A vital, life-saving infrastructure project is being put on hold because the system has become so constrained that it cannot deliver what is plainly needed. Many people will not understand that, and they will be right not to. They will see a dangerous road, a ready-made solution and, unfortunately, a Minister whose hands are tied by the very legislative amendments that her party backed. Every day that the A1 project is pushed back is another day on which motorists are forced to take risks that we already know how to eliminate. That is the inevitable consequence of unrealistic legislation being applied in a way that blocks progress instead of enabling it. Common sense on such matters has been lost. Further delay and further damage will be caused, and more families will be destroyed because of unrealistic climate change targets that are forcing our systems to grind to a halt and will continue to be the problem. Safety has taken a back seat. The Minister needs to explain clearly why the A1 project is not being prioritised; what is being done to get it moving again; and whether her party and the Alliance Party, which is the party of the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, will finally get to grips with the conversation about the need for the amendments to be removed in order to ensure that infrastructure projects can continue.

I will, if I have time at the finish. Ultimately, the amendments need to be removed to kick-start our infrastructure. That is what is required. The people who use the A1 road deserve action, not excuses. The people who use the A5 road deserve action, not excuses. The people who want to drive on an A4 Enniskillen bypass deserve action, not excuses. I trust that the Assembly can get to grips with that reality and do so very quickly.

744 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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