Derry residents demand safe crossing on Creggan Road

Residents who live close to Brooke Park gathered on Creggan Hill on Saturday, July 9 to highlight some of the issues around Creggan Road.

The residents were expressing the difficulties they encounter trying to cross the road on Creggan Road to get to Brooke Park and said that they would like to see speed calming measures and a safe crossing put in place. The Department for Infrastructure have said they will carry out an updated review of the area, despite having completed an assesment in 2019.

One older resident said: “I live on Malbrorough road and I can’t cross the road anymore because it’s too dangerous. I think there should be some sort of speed ramp so the traffic generally should slow down.

“The traffic goes so fast and the paths are so narrow so it’s quite jarring when you’re walking. The path on the Brooke Park side is very high and I recently had a hip replacement so I have to stop and think about which foot I have to lift first to get up. If I put up the wrong foot, my hip is too week and I could fall.

“I’ve had to stop going to the park now. I just walk up and down my own street now because it’s not safe to cross the road.

“I think ‘20s plenty’ is a great sign because even now, standing here, people see it and they slow down a wee bit. I think it’s a fantastic idea to put these signs up all along the road and make people slow down.”

Another elderly resident who lives on Creggan Road said: “I had a fall recently and I’m very slow now. I just can’t cross the road at all because you don’t see the cars coming down and the minute I step out onto the road, a car comes and I have to go back in again. Some of the cars go very, very fast and it never stops. You can’t say you can cross at any particular time because it just never stops.

“I used to go to Brooke Park every day, it was the only exercise I get and I don’t go in there at all now. If there was some way to slow the traffic or put a crossing in place, it would give me a chance to get in and go for a walk again.”

It’s not only elderly residents who suffer as a result of the heavy traffic on the road. Róisín McGilloway is a mother of two children, one of whom is in a pram and she fears that it’s only a matter of time before a serious incident occurs on the road.

She said: “I walk my children to Brooke Park through Marlborough Road and it’s not a pleasant walk. Before you even get to the crossing, there’s cars parked on the path at Marlborough Road which means I have to take the pram out onto the road. The cars come round that corner from Creggan Road so fast, it’s scary. There’s not a lot of space in the car park at Gwyn’s Cafe so I think people park in Marlborough and walk across and that’s where these cars are coming from, it’s not the residents. I don’t understand why people don’t park at the top of the park and walk down. It’s a beautiful walk so it would be enjoyable too.

“Crossing Creggan Road is also a big issue with a pram. The kerb is so high, it’s hard to get the pram up and down and you have to do it really quickly because there’s always cars coming. It’s so stressful to cross and I would love to see traffic lights, a zebra crossing or even just signs to say people are crossing to enable people to just go and enjoy the beautiful park.”

A Deparment for Infrastructure spokesperson said: “The Department had previously assessed Creggan Road in the vicinity of Brooke Park in 2019. At that time a preliminary assessment determined that it did not meet the criteria for provision of a controlled crossing.

“The Department will carry out an updated review of the location in terms of pedestrian crossing facilities against current policy.”