Regional Development Minister, Conor Murphy, has welcomed the findings of a pilot customer survey carried out on behalf of his Department’s Roads Service, for traffic calming schemes implemented in its Eastern and Southern Roads Divisions.

Commenting on the survey, the Minister said: "Roads Service treats road safety as a high priority within its overall programme of work. The implementation of traffic calming schemes is seen as an important means of contributing to improving road safety for all, particularly the elderly, young children and people with disabilities."

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The aim of this pilot survey was to seek more focussed feedback from the public on how well Roads Service performs when implementing traffic calming schemes in terms of planning, consultation, construction and evaluation of their impact.

Almost 3,000 households were surveyed during the exercise and the response rate to the survey was very good, with more than 1,000 questionnaires being returned.

The Minister said he was encouraged that the results of the survey endorsed the work carried out by his Department on traffic calming schemes.

He added: "The results of the survey have helped to demonstrate that the public generally sees traffic calming schemes as helping to improve road safety in their areas."

The Minister gave his commitment to continue to implement traffic calming measures across the North and said he expected that the budget in 2008/09 for these schemes would be in the region of £2.5m.

(GK/JM)