Residents and landowners take action over dangerous road

CONCERNED residents and landowners came together at the weekend to carry out much-needed work aimed at reducing the number of accidents on a dangerous stretch of road in Tyrone.

The work on the road between Drumquin and Castlederg, which mainly consisted of clearing trees, was initiated by local farmer, Norman Irwin.

He has repeatedly had to retrieve crashed vehicles from the area over the years.

Mr Irwin told the Tyrone Herald that he fears it is only a matter of time before one of these accidents is fatal.

He says in the last 18 months alone he has recovered three vehicles which had turned over on their roofs.

“There was one quite serious accident just below where we were working where a man had to be cut out of his car,” Mr Irwin said. “It could have easily been a fatality”.

A group of local landowners agreed to the proposals to remove tall trees along the route on Saturday. Mr Irwin said these were posing a risk by blocking light, dropping leaves and preventing the road from drying and frost thawing. They also agreed to assist with work to improve visibility at a blind and hazardous road junction.

The bends, known locally as Badgers corner, together with the blind junction between the Kirlish Road and Castlederg Road, around three miles on the Castlederg side of Drumquin, were the focus of this effort.

Mr Irwin said, “Every few feet whenever we were working at the road there were bits of bumpers, windscreens and all sorts of debris in the hedges.”

Contractors residing in the area, Sam Sayers, Stephen Gordon, Noel McKane and Glen McCutcheon, all kindly agreed to provide the necessary machinery as well as donating their time to get the work done.

West Tyrone MLA Tom Buchanan, who is from Drumquin, assisted with liaising with the relevant government departments to secure the road closure and permission for the work to proceed on Saturday.

Mr Irwin said, “I would like to express my thanks to everyone involved, especially those men who assisted the contractors. I just hope there will be no more vehicles to retrieve in the future and there will be safer motoring for all, especially as winter approaches.” The volunteers did incur a number of expenses with hiring the machinery to carry out the work, so any donations to help cover those costs will be welcomed.