Killyleagh residents fear speeding cars on the Downpatrick Road on the way to Delamont Country Park.
Councillor Billy Walker is very concerned at the dangers of speeding cars on the Downpatrick Road coming into Killyleagh.
And recently local resident Susan McComb spoke to Down News and said: “
“I live in Annsfield Park and it’s very hard at times to get out onto the main Downpatrick Road as it is very difficult to judge how fast the oncoming cars are approaching.
“Years ago I had a cousin hit on the arm by a large jeep on that road. Many people use the pathway now too and traffic is travelling too fast inside and outside the speed limits.”
Cllr Billy Walker said: “Over the past few years I have spoken to the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) about this and other roads in the Killyleagh area.
“It looks to me that we need traffic calming measures in place, rumble lines or something, before an accident happens.
“I think too that the DfI could extend the 40mph sign out to past Delamont Park.
“The police too have a role to play in this problem with speeders.
“During the summer months especially and because of Covid-19, more people are now walking on the roads and head out to Delamont.
“Despite numerous meetings with the DfI, they do not seem to understand that even though it doesn’t meet their criteria, it is still a very dangerous bit of road.
“I managed to get a 150-yard extension to the footpath ten years ago when there was a fatality on that stretch of road. A lady was hit by a motorbike. The danger point was at a brow of a hill.
“I lobbied and people were then able to safely cross the road to a safer place on the right hand side going out of Killyleagh. This made a huge difference to improving road safety.
“More recently I managed to get a speed checker screen funded by the PCSP which we sited at beside the Killyleagh Primary School. It runs off a solar panel and has made a great difference to reducing te hamount of speeding cars on that stretch of road.
“If we had another road speed checker like this we could set it up beside Annsfield Park and I believe it would certainly slow down the traffic.”
Cllr Walker could not understand why the DfI could not just move the speed limit sign to just past Delamont Park and said that “they needed to move with the changing times,” adding: “There is a growing number of pedestrians using the footpath and cars are often not heeding even the 30mph speed limit.
“I’ve had site meetings with DfI officials and and they are digging their heels in. But we need to increase the pressure to maintain road safety and try and find solutions within our community that may work. We could replicated the success of the Shrigley speed checker as a first fix to this serious issue.”
