|
|
Status
|
Construction scheme
(proposed) |
|
Where
|
To
construct a link road connecting the A20
Portaferry Road on the east side of
Newtownards north to the Bowtown Road, a
local road. |
|
Total
Length
|
0.6 km / 0.4 miles
|
|
Dates
|
2002 - Proposed in
draft Ards and Down Area Plan - 2002
2007 - Included in
Sub-Regional Transport Plan
March 2009 - Included in adopted Ards
and Down Area Plan
No plans for
construction - likely to be developer
led
|
|
Cost
|
? |
|
Photos
|
None as yet -
please contact me if you have any to
contribute. |
|
See
Also
|
General
area map - Google Earth
Ards
and Down Area Plan 2015 -
Planning Service
Map
showing proposals (PDF) - Planning
Service
|
The majority of residential development in
Newtownards is situated on the east side of the
town, on the far side from Belfast, the main
source of employment. This means that motorists
have to negotiate the town to go between the
two. A southern distributor road connecting
Portaferry Road via Comber Road to the Belfast
road opened in July 2009. However, this still
leaves a problem for those who live off the
Bowtown Road (pronounced "Booton"), a heavily
developed residential road that runs parallel
to, but north of, Portaferry Road. Bowtown Road
currently works to capacity, partly because the
roads used to access it - particularly Greenwell
Street - were not designed for the purpose.
The planners have now allocated large areas of
land to the east of Newtownards for further
housing development. However, they have
stipulated that the provision of the Bowtown
Road - Portaferry Road link road will be
required before permission is given for these.
The road essentially allows the new traffic that
will be generated in east Newtownards to access
the Southern Distributor Road. The map below
(Google Maps) illustrates the planned location
of the new road. Starting on the Portaferry Road
at its junction with Old Shore Road (probably
via a new roundabout) it will run north-east to
the Bowtown Road. The Area Plan also indicates
some localised realignments on the Bowtown Road.
This scheme ties in to two other schemes that
will, ultimately, lead to the creation of a
partial "ring" road round the east of
Newtownards from the A20 Portaferry Road in the
south to the A21 Bangor Road dual-carriageway in
the north. The two further components that would
be needed to make this a reality are:
At the time of writing (Aug 2014) there are no
plans to build the road, and with the downturn
in the construction and property markets, it may
not happen for some time yet. Having said that,
at the "sod cutting" ceremony of the A20
Southern Distributor in April 2008 the
"roads" minister did at least say that "With
[the Southern Distributor] will come further
road proposals as this A20 Southern
Distributor is extended from the Portaferry
Road to the Bowtown Road, to Movilla Road, to
Donaghadee Road and in due course to the
Bangor Road."
.
|
