Residents make plea over safety on Bleary road
The scene of a crash on the Calvertstown Road in December.
A SURVEY is to be carried out on the Calvertstown Road, Bleary, after a number of crashes in icy weather.
DUP MLA Stephen Moutray revealed that Roads Minister Danny Kennedy had given the go-ahead last week for the survey on traffic volume.
The road, which runs between Plantation Road and Bleary Road and is used as a shortcut by motorists, has been the subject of complaints by residents who want to see it gritted.
Just this week, a concerned resident warned of potential fatalities after yet another accident.
He said, “During this winter there have been relatively few frosty nights. I would guess about 10. However, as a result of the frost there has been 14 accidents on this short road.
“The damage caused has amounted to tens of thousands of pounds. Fortunately, as yet, no on has been killed. However, it is only a matter of time before deaths occur.”
In December, the Portadown Times carried a similar warning from another resident, after a motorist veered into the gardens of two houses - the seventh such incident at that spot in two years.
The driver escaped injury but was left badly shaken and her car and the fence she crashed into were badly damaged.
The man claimed there had been other accidents on the same day, and that one resident, who was trying to put grit on the road, had to jump onto the footpath when a car came sliding sideways across the road.
In the latest warning, the local man said, “This road is less than half a mile long. It would only take a gritter 45 seconds to grit it .
“They have left a pile of grit at each end of the road. However, as Calvertstown Road is now mostly occupied by pensioners, are they expected to fill a wheelbarrow and spread the girt from one end to the other?”
Mr Moutray said that following the accident in December he had put in a request to Roads Service for the road to be gritted but was told that it didn’t meet the criteria.
He said, “I found that unacceptable so I went back to the Minister last week and explained my concerns to him. The volume of traffic on the road has increased because cars coming from central Craigavon are using it to bypass Bleary.
“I will be continuing to keep pressure on the Minister.”
A spokesperson for DRD Roads Service said, “Following a recent meeting between the Minister and Mr Moutray a traffic survey will be carried out on the Calvertstown Road, Bleary in due course.”
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Weather for Portadown
Sunday 26 May 2013
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