Traffic ‘chaos’ sparks better management calls

There have been calls for better traffic management in Londonderry after roadworks caused serious congestion on the first day of the Foyle Cup.

Thousands of people were in Derry on Monday for the opening parade and first day of the annual youth football tournament.

But there were lengthy tailbacks on the Foyle Bridge, the Waterside and onwards towards Ballykelly after Northern Ireland Water restarted sewage works.

In a post on social media, Foyle Cup organisers described the situation as “chaos” and called on local politicians to “sort it out”.

Road works on Madam’s Bank Road resumed on Monday after a pause while The Open took place in Portrush.

NI Water said it had now revised some road restrictions in the city.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme, Eamonn O’Donnell from North West Taxi Proprietors said the tournament should be an “opportunity to showcase the city”.

Instead, he said, poor traffic management had “created chaos”.

“It was chaotic and a poor reflection of the city,” he said.

“There should have been a moratorium on roadworks across the city.”

On Monday, NI Water said they were laying new wastewater infrastructure on Madam’s Bank Road to support new development in the city.

Sewer improvements area also planned to get under way this week on Queens Quay in the city centre.

A spokesperson said the projects had been scheduled to take place – as far as possible – during the summer months to minimise disruption to school traffic.

NI Water said that, from Tuesday, traffic would be reduced to one lane only where necessary, keeping two lanes open near the Culmore Road roundabout.

Traffic controls on Culmore Road and Foyle Bridge would also be lifted.

A decision on further postponing works on Queens Quay will be confirmed later.

That work had been paused to accommodate the Foyle Cup’s opening parade.

SDLP assembly member Mark H Durkan said the resumption of work at Madam’s Bank should also have been paused.

“It is very disappointing this hasn’t been prepared for, hadn’t been anticipated and action taken to prevent the chaos that we saw on our streets yesterday,” he said.

Sinn Féin councillor Sandra Duffy told BBC Radio Foyle it was “disappointing to be talking about traffic” given the success of the tournament.

She said it was her understanding that the tournament organiser had met police and the Department for Infrastructure to discuss traffic management but added those discussions “needed to be widened”.

“I believe the concentration was on the parade and wasn’t widened out further and roadworks going on there. Those are the lessons we need to learn,” she said.

“All these roadworks are known, always out for consultation, but I think a ball was dropped by quite a few of us.”

Almost 1,000 teams – some 20,000 players – are taking part in the Foyle Cup which runs until Saturday.