Alliance Infrastructure spokesperson Kellie Armstrong has given a cautious welcome to the announcement of £4 million funding to develop the York Street interchange scheme to construction ready state.
Kellie Armstrong said: “The York Street junction is one of the busiest in Northern Ireland with around 100,000 vehicles going through it every day. While I welcome the announcement that Minister Hazzard is providing £4 million to develop the scheme to a construction ready state, we need firmer assurances that the rest of the funding to actually deliver the scheme will be made available. It would be a waste of public money to develop the scheme further without giving certainty that it will be constructed.
“The Infrastructure Minister seems to be spending his last few weeks in office pushing out press releases with announcements of funding for a wide range of schemes. Did he suddenly realise he had money to spend when the election was announced? What we needed was a fully costed strategic plan for roads, rather than a reactive piecemeal approach which is not the best use of resources.”