Jenny Palmer MLA, the Ulster Unionist Party’s Infrastructure spokesperson, has welcomed the news that the Minister has allocated up to £4m to bring the vital York Street Interchange project to ‘a construction ready state.’
Jenny Palmer said;
“I am glad to hear that this money has been found, but much more is needed. The Minister’s previous comments regarding this key scheme have been less than encouraging on occasion, so I do welcome the fact that he now seems to be treating it more seriously and has identified funding to get it to a ’construction ready state.’
“Quite simply this scheme is the most vital infrastructure project on the books of this Executive. It has already failed us on so many other aspects of government, but I am glad to see some progress in this area.
“Given the fact that 100,000 vehicles per day use the York Street Interchange - which is described as the single biggest blockage in Northern Ireland’s transport system and is the source of major congestion - we believe the redevelopment scheme must be commenced and completed as a matter of priority.
“This would undoubtedly have a major impact on journey times on what is our key economic corridor and I urge the Minister to work to commit more funding to York Street Interchange in the next few weeks. Any future Infrastructure minister needs to make this the number one priority coming into the next Executive.”