‘Lives will be lost’ if road is not fixed

AN EXASPERATED resident of the main Omagh to Drumquin road has voiced his grave concerns there will be “serious injury or even loss of life” if the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) does not urgently repair the deteriorating surface.

However, a spokesperson for the DfI has warned that legal action regarding their contract procurement process means their hands are tied until at least the new year.

The road, which begins at Gillygooley and stretches the whole way to the village of Drumquin, has seen an increasing number of accidents as the condition of the road has steadily deteriorated since the summer months.

Harold Moore (75), who has lived on the Gillygooley Road since 1982, told the UH, “The road is in the worst condition it has ever been in. On Halloween day another accident occurred on a particularly slippery part of the road, adjacent to my house, when a taxi careered off the road, through my fence and into my field.”

But Mr Moore said he is not worried about damage to his personal property, rather he is preoccupied by a deeper concern that this road represents a “fatality waiting to happen unless it is resurfaced”.

‘DANGEROUS’

“This is a recurring and dangerous problem,” he said.

“On the morning of September 18, a work van collided with a vehicle transporting sheep, and I am led to believe both people and animals were injured,” stated Mr Moore.

“This happened on the exact same part of the road as Sunday’s accident and the vehicle which lost control slid in precisely the same direction. It’s no coincidence.”

The taxi driver who became the most motorist to fall foul of the ‘glass-like’ road told the UH that he feels lucky to have left the accident without injury to himself or anyone else.

“I often travel this road with passengers on board, some of whom are vulnerable. There easily could have been an oncoming vehicle when I lost control,” he said.

The taxi driver said that he has not slept well since, his thoughts often interrupted by what could have happened had luck not been on his side.

“I could have met a young family coming in the opposite direction – it really doesn’t bear thinking about,” he said.

In response to an enquiry made this week, DfI said, “Legal challenges have prevented the award of asphalt resurfacing contracts… Minister Nichola Mallon made a statement to the Assembly on this issue on June 15, 2021.” They continued, “The department is aware of the condition of this section of the Gillygooley Road and of the collisions which have been reported in the last three months.

“This stretch of road is scheduled for resurfacing when a new contract has been awarded.”

DfI has estimated that the necessary work to make the road safe will be carried out at the beginning of 2022 and, as an interim measure, ‘slippery road’ signs have been erected to advise motorists of the condition of the road surface.

However, regular users of the road think, in order to avoid a serious accident, these ‘sticking plaster solutions’ must give way to real action.