Derry City and Strabane District Council members have been briefed on road maintenance and improvement work for 2025/26 and 2026/27 by the Department for Infrastructure.

Divisional Roads Manager Stephen Hughes addressed councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, 11 November. He said: "For planning purposes, an opening indicative allocation for structural maintenance of approximately £98m is being provided, which is approximately £30m higher than the opening allocation in the previous year. From this allocation the Department has targeted approximately £12.5m towards a Roads Recovery Fund. This funding will enable the delivery of the highest priority resurfacing, roadside stability and drainage projects.

"To help prioritise, on Monday 26 October the Department published Transport Strategy 2035 which sets out a long-term vision and strategic framework for the region. The Strategy aims to support economic growth, strengthen regional balance, and enhance connectivity, while promoting a more sustainable transport system. It brings together key transport policy objectives within a single overarching framework, providing greater clarity on the context for the Department's decisions and the actions required across government to support delivery of these strategic outcomes.

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"In parallel, Local Transport Plans are being developed alongside councils' Local Development Plans to ensure a more integrated approach to transport and land use planning.

"Road safety also remains a high priority for the Department, and we are committed to working proactively to make our roads safer and address the needs of all road users."

Hughes outlined work completed in the previous year: "Last year, as part of an overall investment of £3.77m in resurfacing in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area, we completed key resurfacing works on stretches of the Cumber Road, Claudy, the Tamnaherin Road, Eglinton, Tievenny Road Ardstraw and the Woodside Road Newbuildings. Other projects, including the junction improvement at Bellspark/Orchard Road Strabane, junction realignment at the Rock Road/Northland Road, the 4 part-time 20mph at schools' schemes and 2 traffic calming schemes, have also been successfully completed."

He also set out progress and plans for 2026/27: "Looking ahead to 2026/27, we have completed resurfacing on the A5 Victoria Road, Ballymagorry and Strand Road, Derry. We will also be progressing a number of traffic management schemes throughout the Derry City and Strabane District Council area including Park and Ride adjacent to the existing bus station in Strabane and the design of number of footway schemes and the completion of 3 traffic calming schemes.

"On 22 October Minister Kimmins also announced a fourth tranche of the part-time 20mph at schools programme, which lists 15 schools in Western Division, and includes the remaining rural school in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area."

Concluding his update, Hughes said: "These projects will deliver significant benefits to both the local community and commuters in Derry City and Strabane."