Shannon meets with Road Service and PSNI to discuss road safety on Portaferry Road
Strangford MP Jim Shannon has met with representatives of the Road Service and PSNI Road Safety Officer on the Portaferry Road at Newtownards.
He said that “there are a number of steps that are to be taken to see how safety can be improved on the road.
“The meeting made clear that both Road Service and PSNI are aware of the difficulties and the accidents taking place on the road.
“And they recognise that whilst the amount of traffic carried, the accidents may not be ‘high’, the severity of the accidents do call for further action to be taken.
“This road is a country road and is very twisty and so the PSNI highlighted the fact that undoubtedly driver error had a role to play here.
“They said that greater awareness for drivers of the condition of the road could help to highlight caution and a suggestion for information boards was put forward which will be looked into.
“The boards may suggest ‘slippery conditions’ or ‘poor visibility‘ depending on the condition at the time.
“The view is that this would remind those who use the road day and daily that they need to be mindful.”
Mr Shannon added: “Road Service have undertaken to carry out an investigation into the surface of the road with special machinery as it is clear that driver error is not always to blame. I
“In some of the most recent cases, seasoned drivers who were not speeding have lost control saying that the surface of the road wasn’t right.
“It is possible that some changes to the surface of a few of the dangerous corners may greatly improve road safety and this will be looked into.
“It is clear that we need to do some work and really look into this issue and I am thankful to Inspector Haslett and Stephen Gardiner from Road Service for their commitment to see how we can improve safety.”
