Lorry chaos leads to road ‘disappearing under mud’

Residents on the Eskragh Road outside Dungannon claim that HGVs accessing Granville Industrial Estate have churned up the road verges and left a deep layer of mud lying on the tarmac.

The recent bad weather has turned the road into a ‘mud-bath’, according to SDLP Councillor Anthony McGonnell.

“The residents have been very uncomplaining to date about lorries using their road as a short-cut, but the recent snow has made the issue insufferable”, he said.

“Residents are being hampered from going about their daily lives and schoolchildren are walking ankle-deep in mud.

“I visited the road myself and my car was covered in dirt. There were several inches of mud on the road, making it unsafe for motorists and pedestrians alike.”

The SDLP representative is calling on Road Service to close the road to all lorries. He said that recent work being done to the industrial estate has resulted in more lorries using the road.

“The Roads Service has been contacted and they have done their best to clean the road, but there must be a permanent solution to this problem”, he said.

“The health and safety of local residents must be paramount, and the only long-term solution in my view is to ban lorries from using the road.

“Residents in this area have shown great forbearance, and have tolerated the increasing noise and smells from the industrial estate. However, this is the last straw for them.”