£30k revamp for park road

The facelift to Brownstown Park Road, which is being funded by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, will begin on Monday, February 13 and last for around three weeks.

During the works, pedestrian access will be maintained but vehicles will not be able to enter the area. As an alternative, the Lidl store on the Armagh Road will be making a number of car parking spaces available, with the public being able to use the pelican crossing to reach the park and other facilities through the Armagh Road entrance.

“This access road is in desperate need of being completely transformed for a number of reasons, including improving accessibility and the health and safety of the area,” said Councillor Glenn Barr, chair of the leisure and community services committee.

“The Community Centre and the pitches are exceptionally well used on a daily basis throughout the whole year – day and night – and although we know that these works will cause some disruption we would ask that users bear with us. This will very much be short term pain for long term gain. We know users have had difficulty with the state of this particular road so we felt it was important to repair it completely sooner rather than later. We thank you in advance for your patience.”

The road – which has been patched on numerous occasions – will be excavated and completely resurfaced with the addition of four new speed ramps. Currently there is only one ramp.

The council has written to all residents in the area to inform them of the works, as well as communicating with users of the community centre and surrounding facilities.

The work has been welcomed by MP David Simpson and Councillor Darryn Causby of the DUP. Cllr Causby said, “Brownstown park is used by hundreds of people each week and sees a heavy traffic flow, particularly during the week when youth football is on. 

“Parents and coaches have raised concerns regarding the condition of the surface and the speeding in the park and we are glad that once completed this will address those concerns.”

Councillor Julie Flaherty said the town’s UUP office had received lots of complaints about the road and said news of the scheme would be welcomed by all users of the community hub.