Road Service says it can’t properly fix Derry’s potholes

THE Department for Infrastructure has warned it can “only slow the deterioration of roads” rather than improve them following a call to urgently repair routes across the north-west.

Derry City and Strabane District Council passed a motion this week calling for the department to make necessary repairs to roads in the region.

The state of many roads was described as “unacceptable” by People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin, who brought the motion before the council.

Earlier this week his party held a protest on Derry’s Northland Road to highlight what it described as a “crater” in the road.

The call comes as DfI Roads service workers prepare for strike action over pay next week following a ballot by members of the GMB union.

Mr Harkin said he supported workers calling for better pay during a cost-of-living crisis, adding that the industrial action could lead to further delays in repairing roads affected by issues including potholes.

“From my point of view there is already a huge delay in getting repairs done across the district and it’s damaging cars, it’s infuriating people and it’s leaving cyclists unwilling to get on the roads,” he said.

“Now there is going to be a strike which I think will further compound the state of the roads because road service workers won’t be able to get out there and do their job as they want to.”

He added that the council required the Department for Infrastructure to “act with immediacy to sort this out because the state they have left our roads in is unacceptable”.

However, a spokesperson for the department told the Irish News that “historical under-investment in the maintenance of the road network for many years” had caused the deterioration.

“As a result of budget cuts, the department has had to reduce its essential maintenance activities to a ‘limited service’ again this year which prioritises delivery of the most critical interventions for maintaining public safety,” they said.

“Consequently, only the highest priority defects across the road network are currently being repaired.”

The spokesperson added: “Regular inspections of the road network are continuing and defects which meet the intervention level will be taken forward for repair within the budget available.

“The current reality is that the department can only slow the deterioration of the road assets we have, as opposed to making them better.”

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