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Northern Ireland Office;Northern Ireland Roads Service

Answer

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when a proposal for a bridge across Strangford Lough was last considered by the Department for the Environment; what is the estimated cost of such a bridge; what is the present planned investment in roads in the Ards Peninsula over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [94720] Mr. McFall: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Roads Service under its Chief Executive Mr. C. James. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from C. James to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 22 October 1999: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to respond to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question about the provision of a bridge across Strangford Lough and planned investment in roads in the Ards Peninsula over the next 10 years. The Department of the Environment considered the proposal to construct a bridge across Strangford Lough as recently as September 1999 following a request from a local interest group. The span across the lough between Portaferry and Strangford measures approximately 0.6 miles and the cost of constructing a bridge at this location is estimated to be in the region of £25M-£30M, depending on detailed design requirements. The Department considers that such an investment would not represent value for money compared to other higher priority road schemes which are required across Northern Ireland. As regards planned investment in roads in the Ards Peninsula over the next 10 years, approximately £180K is scheduled to be spent on minor road improvements during the 2-year period 2000/01-2001/02. The level of funding for future road programmes over the next 10 years is unknown, but assuming it is maintained at current levels, some £0.9M will be spent on minor road works in the Ards Peninsula over that period. While the Department's 5-year Major Road Works Programme 1999/2000-2003/04 does not include any schemes in the Ards Peninsula, the 6-15 year Forward Planning Programme includes 4 schemes in Newtownards (total value approximately £5.2M). This programme is, however, currently under review and, even if these schemes are retained, the timing of their implementation will depend on the availability of funding. I hope you find this information helpful.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

336 c888W; 94720

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Construction Bridges Northern Ireland Roads Strangford Lough

Contains statistics

Yes