The first sod was cut today by Roads Minister Conor Murphy to mark the start of £134m road improvement works in the Dungannon area.

Construction of a dual carriageway and the realignment of the A4 at Annaghilla and the A5 at Tullyvar will greatly improve journey times to the west and south for the travelling public and will be of significant benefit to both strategic traffic and other road users in the local area.

The Minister said the works, which will take three years to complete, were of significant local importance.

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"This project had considerable local support from within the Dungannon area and I am pleased to now see the local work started," Mr Murphy said.

"The improvements and upgrading of both the A4 and the A5 will greatly improve journey times for both strategic traffic and other road users in the local community.

"These works are part of a much larger package of improvements and are part of the ongoing strategy of improving the Strategic Road network in the north."

Construction of the scheme is likely to cause disruption to traffic on a phased basis, particularly on sections of the route to be widened. Traffic management arrangements via careful planning and phasing of the works will attempt to limit this disruption as much as possible.

It is envisaged that disruption to traffic will be largely confined to the latter half of the three-year construction period of the scheme.

(JM)