Work to be carried out to repair traffic lights in town centre

The department was responding to complaints from disgruntled drivers about traffic congestion being caused by the sequencing of the lights at the top of the Castlewellan Road.

One angry motorist, who didn’t want to be named, contacted the Leader, saying: “It’s ridiculous. I don’t know whether they have changed the sequencing of the lights or whatever, but the tailbacks are awful. It’s added about 20 minutes to half an hour onto my journey in the mornings. They need to get it sorted.”

Many other local drivers took to social media to voice their annoyance and frustration at the traffic problems around Church Square in recent days.

One woman posted on Facebook: “The traffic lights in Church Square appear to have changed recently with regards to the length of time they stay at green. They seem to only let approximately three cars through before they change to red, which is resulting in massive traffic tailbacks as far as Whyte Acres. Not what you need on a school run.”

Local political representatives Carla Lockhart MLA and UUP Councillor Glenn Barr both contacted TransportNI asking for the problem to be resolved as a matter of urgency.

Responding to the concerns raised about the signals at the busy junction, a DfI spokesman said: “The department is aware of a fault with the traffic signals at the Church Square junction in Banbridge. Damage to a traffic detection loop is affecting operational efficiency.

“Temporary measures have been put in place to improve traffic flow but some delays may still occur.

“Work is scheduled to replace the faulty detection loop by the end of next week and it is anticipated that the signals will return to normal operation then.”