SDLP's McCrossan criticises A6 development

The West Tyrone MLA described the proposed Randalstown-Castledawson dualling scheme as "a fraction of the required upgrade".

The SDLP's Daniel McCrossan has hit out at Infrastructure minister Chris Hazzard's announcement on the development of the A6 dualling scheme.

The Sinn Fein minister announced that work on the road could start as early as October of this year. 

But  the plans that would see new dual carriageway sections added to roads between Randalstown and Castledawson, have been dismissed by the West Tyrone MLA as being "far short of what ... had been promised to people west of the Bann during the election". 

He says people in his constituency and others across the West expect more.

"People in the West have been starved for too long and given token gestures to appease the mob, for want of a better description," he said.

"And I think that we're at a stage today where people in our society, whether Catholic, Protestant or otherwise, are truly sick of the lack of delivery in this area," he added.

The Tyrone assemblyman says the 9 mile stretch of road outlined by the Infrastructure chief represents "doing the bare minimum" when it comes to redressing the deficit in infrastructure in the west of the country. 

He also questioned why the £160 million investment was happening closer to Belfast and not Derry.

Daniel McCrossan now feels that people are growing tired of the lack of progress on other key projects such as the A5. 

"When I'm out there, people are asking what's happening with the A5 - is it going to be delivered?"

"And when they look at the reality when it comes to the A6 and this token gesture of 9 miles, they're losing heart day and daily," he said.