Traffic congestion along the Irvinestown Road headed towards Forthill Street, Enniskillen RMG01
BY this time next year the design of the long-awaited Enniskillen southern bypass should be completed and consultation should be ready to begin on the project.
As yet, no funding is in place for the bypass, which is aimed at reducing traffic by up to 40 per-cent the town. However a spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure told the Herald the project was continuing to progress.
“Whilst no funding to construct the bypass is in place, Transport NI has recently commissioned consultants to develop the design and prepare the necessary draft orders and environmental statement for publication in 2017,” they said. “This will allow the statutory consultation to take place and hopefully leave the project in position for vesting and procurement to take place when funding is made available.”
It is anticipated the £35 million bypass project will require the construction of 2km of road from the Dublin Road, near the Killyhevlin Hotel, to the Derrylin Road, just south of the Belcoo/Derrylin Road junction, and a number of bridges will also be required. The draft orders and environmental statements are expected to be ready by early next year, with the project ready to proceed to the consultation process by the summer.
While some have expressed fears that by-passing the town may harm trading, most businessmen in the town are in favour of the bypass and have said it could, in fact, increase shopping and business.
Jim Masterson, manager of Erneside, said while he understood concerns that less traffic passing through the town may mean less people stopping to shop, less congestion could “make the town more inviting.”
“People may be more inclined to come into Enniskillen if they knew there would be no traffic,” said Mr Masterson. “It would mean they don’t have to battle for three-quarters-of-an-hour to get into the town. Locally, it will mean people will be able to come in and out of the town more frequently. People will also be likely to stay around the town longer if they know they don’t have to battle through traffic.”
Adding the new road would be a great advantage to haulage and transport businesses, Mr Masterson said: “There’s a lot more to it than simply the town being by-passed.”
Another local business man, Jonathan Styles from Mercer’s Jewellers in the town, also welcomed it, stating it was “all part of developing Enniskillen as a business town.”
Referring to the build up of traffic coming into the town from the Belfast direction, he said “the bypass can only help.” He also suggested that, after the project was complete, the Dublin and Tempo roads should be connected, creating a ringroad around the town.
Mr Styles added the Enniskillen Business Partnership had recently met with First Minister Arlene Foster to discuss who best to lobby Stormont on getting the dual carriageway at Ballygawley extended to Enniskillen, stating it was one the partnership’s top three priorities for the town.
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere