Newry to Banbridge dual carriageway opens

A €37m new dual carriageway between Newry and Banbridge opens today.

The road, around the town of Loughbrickland, is a notorious road accident blackspot but still leaves the road between the border and Belfast sub-standard.

However, the new road is a dual carriageway, not a motorway, and it still leaves part of the Dublin/Belfast corridor with no overtaking lane.

It's a highly dangerous road with locals using it for shopping and visiting while through-traffic treats it as a motorway.

Catriona Ruane, the Sinn Féin assembly member for south Down, said that far more needs to be done to bring Northern roads up to scratch.