Public enquiry 'essential' to address Southern Relief Road concerns: Newry 2020

It comes as the Department for Infrastructure has announced details of a Community Information Event for the project. The Southern Relief Road is being developed to provide a strategic link between the A1/N1 Belfast to Dublin corridor and the A2 Warrenpoint Road, bypassing Newry City Centre.  It is one of the three infrastructure projects being taken forward by the Department within the Belfast Region City Deal, which has allocated £93.4m to the project. This community update follows the announcement by the Department that a non-opening 50 metre span fixed bridge is the Department’s preferred option for crossing the Newry River and Newry Ship Canal.

An un-staffed exhibition display will take place at Newry Leisure Centre from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 October and staffed for one day on Thursday 19 October 2023, which will provide an opportunity to engage with Departmental staff and the engineering consultants who can provide detail on work done to date and the emerging plans for the proposed scheme.

Newry 2020 say that they have "concerns" about the project.

"We have written to the Department for Infrastructure expressing our reservations about the proposed Southern Relief Road Project and its impact on the local environment," a spokesperson said.

"Apart from the totally unacceptable proposal to permanently close the Ship Canal to masted vessels, our members have concerns about the wider environmental impacts of the project. 

"These concerns include the detrimental effects on local scenery and tourism, especially given recent efforts to promote the Carlingford Lough Greenway, Carlingford Lough, and the Newry Ship Canal as tourist destinations.

"We are also concerned about the potential destruction of woodland habitats, which are vital for the protection of local wildlife, particularly around the Flagstaff Road and Benson's Glen area.   

"The Department has claimed that this road will improve air quality in Newry, but the expectation is that this road will almost double the amount of HGV traffic going through Greenbank and up the the Flagstaff. Instead of improving air quality, it seems likely that it will have the opposite effect, with inevitable negative impacts on the health of our community.

"Similarly, the well-established principle of "induced demand" means that increased road capacity will almost certainly lead to increased traffic, and thus worse pollution and congestion. 

"We look forward to speaking with the Department's representatives about these issues, but in our view a full public enquiry will be essential to address concerns raised by the community."

Read more on this story inside this week's Newry Reporter, on sale from Wednesday.