She said, “The last time assessments for additional pedestrian crossings were carried out in Newcastle in 2004. At that time three assessments were carried out at The Barbican on the Dundrum Road, Mourne Fresh Foods on the Castlewellan Road and Tesco’s, also on the Castlewellan Road.
[caption id="attachment_23938" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Newcastle SDLP Councillor Carmel O'Boyle has called for more pedestrian crossings in Newcastle. "]
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“At that time, seven years ago, all three sites were close to the required score of 0.2, but in the years since then, not only has traffic increased, but there are additional dwellings in these areas that will certainly have swollen the volume of traffic.
“Next year, on the Castlewellan Road, we will have a further 149 homes as a result of the Apex Housing Association development and on that stretch of road, we need to be lobbying now for traffic lights, as well as a pedestrian crossing. And since 2004, thanks to the success of our promenade scheme and our summer festivals, the numbers of visitors to Newcastle have also increased enormously.
“Negotiations to provide a crossing on the Dundrum Road are at a more advanced stage and I hope that talks that are to take place in the coming week will move this plan forward. If agreement cannot be reached, we could very well lose this money.
“I have been advised by DRD that a new count will take place next April or May as the results will be more representative than a count in October or November. I agree that after Easter the volume of traffic will certainly help our case, but DRD is facing huge financial cuts in the next financial year, and I am concerned about where the money needed to protect pedestrians on these two roads is to come from. At the very least, we need to get ourselves on the list for funding and hope that the necessary finance will become available as soon as possible,” added Cllr O’Boyle.]]>
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