New Fort George cityside medical hub transformative for Derry but Buncrana Road upgrade a missed opportunity

The cityside hub will no doubt be a game changer for Derry and should ease some of the huge pressures on Altnagelvin Hospital while bringing together numerous GP and other health services and making them more accessible to residents of the populous cityside.

That the plans include a redesign of Pennyburn roundabout to include new lanes is to be welcomed. It is to be hoped this will go some way to mitigate against the abject failure of the Northern Ireland government to deliver on the the A2 Buncrana Road widening project.

Pennyburn roundabout is where the city centre meets the two main routes connecting Derry to many of the city’s suburbs but also Donegal.

The Buncrana Road that runs from it carries thousands of cars, buses, lorries, motorcycles and bicycles each day and pinch points at junctions are often congested and, at times, quite dangerous.

You only have to look at the impact the current lane closure for groundworks along Culmore Road is having to see that the current infrastructure in the area is inadequate to deal with the volume of traffic.

Failing to address this and other long-delayed infrastructure projects in Derry now will limit the potential of the many large-scale projects now under way to transform Derry’s economy and the wellbeing of its citizens.