Virgin Media Community

[kelliearmstrong]

Hello

I am an elected representative here in Northern Ireland.  I have had a constituent get in touch in relation to the closure of the footpath between Belvedere Road and Londonderry Road on the Bangor Road, Newtownards.  The constituent was walking her dog and her young baby, when she reached where the contractors were working, there was no provision for pedestrians on what is quite a large footpath.  The contractor told the lady that she would have to cross the road, the road in question being a four land dual carriageway.  The nearest crossing was half a mile back down the road, the result of which added an extra mile onto my constituents journey.  I would be grateful if you could get in touch with the contractors and ask them to look at the situation please before somebody gets hurt.

Thank you in advance.

Kellie Armstrong MLA

[James_W]

Hi Kellie 

Thanks for your post.

We'll reach out to the local team and then get in touch.

[kelliearmstrong]

Thank you James, I look forward to hearing from you.

[James_W]

Hi @kelliearmstrong

We're really sorry for the inconvenience caused to your constituent on this occasion. 

While the footpath was closed with the correct noticing, it appears that we didn't close the pedestrian crossing down as we should have. This would have prevented this scenario. This was corrected a short while after the incident occurred.

The team in the area have been reminded as to the correct processes regarding road crossings, and I'm assured this won't happen again.

Please extend our apologies to your constituent.

James