Glenowen residents call for traffic calming measures

The petition, which was organised on behalf of the residents by local Sinn Fein Councillors, Colly Kelly and Kevin Campbell, was delivered to TransportNI head offices in Derry earlier this week.

Pat Barrett has been living in Glenowen Park for more than 20 years and said the roads in the area have become more and more unsafe as increasing numbers travel in and out of the city centre.

“The roads around here are really bad at peak times,” said Mr. Barrett.

“There are more people living outside Derry and travelling into work every morning, this also has a knock on effect for the number of school children using the roads.

“The roads have become congested and sometimes it’s almost impossible to cross the road. We need traffic lights or something like that here before someone gets hurt or worse,” added Mr. Barrett.

Colr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Barrett’s assessment and explained how the issue of road traffic in the area could be addressed.

“Residents have contacted me in the past and they are concerned about the speed of the traffic travelling through the estate and the need for some form of traffic calming,” said Colr. Kelly.

“The second concern was the dangers particularly for local young children crossing the Bywash/Creggan Road to go to school or catch the bus. Anyone who uses this road on a daily basis knows the high volumes of traffic that use it particularly during rush hour and the dangers that this presents. It’s also very hard for motorist to exit out onto Creggan Road from Glenowen,” he added.

Colr. Kelly continued: “We asked people to sign a petition calling for the installation of traffic calming measures and we engaged with residents and got a very positive response. The areas was last assessed for traffic calming features in 2012. At the time it had a score that placed it at number 42 on the traffic calming priority list.”