THE ROADS Service has said while it has plans in place to improve the main Omagh to Enniskillen road, it has no money to carry out those plans.
Disappointed with how little work had been done on the main Omagh to Enniskillen road, “despite promises of significant investment in this vital link road”, the Council wrote to the Department of Infrastructure’s road agency last month to ask if any work was planned for the route.
“The A32 is one of the key strategic networks which was to receive significant investment from other Government departments, yet it is some seven years since any major improvements have been made to the A32,” the Council wrote.
Noting councillors were “frustrated to learn that several contracts on parts of this road are ready to proceed but are currently being hindered by the lack of finance,” the Council asked that the road agency prioritised the route as a matter of urgency.
In a letter responding to the concerns, shared at the monthly meeting of the Council in Enniskillen on Tuesday night, permanent secretary at the Department of Infrastructure, Katrina Godfrey, said her department had “a route improvement strategy” that had identified nine schemes of work.
Two of these had already been carried out, at Drumskinney and at Shannaragh, at a cost of around £10 million.
Regarding future schemes, Ms Godfrey said plans for improvements at Cornamuck were advanced and were awaiting funding, while improvements at Kilgortnaleague were also currently being considered.
“Beyond this, I know your councillors fully understand the limitations within which we work at present,” said Ms Godfrey. “At present, we simply do not currently have the funding to deliver further improvement works on the A32.
“If funding becomes available, then it will be for ministers to decide on the relative priority of the many infrastructure projects that your Council and others have identified as important that are understandably keen to see delivered.”
With the return of Stormont, it is hoped the new Infrastructure Minister, the SDLP’s Nichola Mallon, will be able to ring fence some funding for the works.
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