The Ulster Unionist Party’s Infrastructure Spokesperson, John Stewart MLA, has described the latest delay to the £130m York Street Interchange redevelopment programme as ‘quite incredible.’
John Stewart MLA said:
“The Ulster Unionist Party has consistently argued that the York Street Interchange should be the top priority for infrastructure spend, given that it is the single biggest blockage in Northern Ireland’s transport system. It is used by 100,000 vehicles every single day and is the source of major congestion.
“This is not some minor set of road works. It is a £130m project and it is quite incredible that this long overdue redevelopment project is to be further delayed due to a successful legal challenge regarding the tendering process.
“This is hugely frustrating for every motorist and road haulier who has ever found themselves caught up at that particular bottleneck affecting journey times on what is our main economic corridor.
“If there was one tendering process within the Department of Infrastructure that should have been subject to the most intensive internal scrutiny so as to make sure all the ‘i’s were dotted and all the ‘t’s crossed, then this surely has to be it.
“Instead it has collapsed in court at the first legal challenge. Coming so soon after the shambles of RHI and the Hightown Incinerator decision, people will quite rightly be asking serious questions about just what exactly is going on in terms of the governance of Northern Ireland.”
“The people of Northern Ireland deserve better than this.”