Installation of Aghagallon bus shelter welcomed

The shelter, which was placed along the Lurgan Road near the Whitehall Gate housing development, will replace the current bus stop at the Colane Road junction.

The slight change in location of the bus stop is to allow greater visibility for drivers and allow safer overtaking when the bus is pulled in to collect passengers as the current location at the Colane Road junction is at the top of a blind hill.

Alliance Party Councillor for the village Peter Lavery said: “The installation of this bus shelter is great news for the village of Aghagallon, especially for those students who use the bus stop everyday to go to school in Lurgan and further afield.

“Over the past 15 years the residential population of this part of Aghagallon has grown substantially so a bus shelter was long overdue to accommodate all the extra students.

“In late 2020 the issue of a shelter was raised with me by a local student, so I organised a neighbourhood survey of local residents which showed a clear need for a bus shelter in the area.

“A meeting was then arranged with local political representatives, council officers, Ulsterbus and staff from the Roads Service and it was agreed to try to locate a shelter near Whitehall Gate.

“I then filled out the required forms, highlighting the results of the neighbourbood survey, and submitted them to the estates team in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council. The issue was then progressed over the past few months, resulting in the installation of the bus shelter earlier this week.”

Alliance Upper Bann representative Councillor Eóin Tennyson added: “As a society we need to encourage greater use of public transport and to do that investment is needed across the board in sustainable transport alternatives.

“This new bus shelter is a small reflection of that need. Previously students were faced with having to go to school in wet clothes as they would have had to wait for the bus in the open elements, so now that will be avoided and hopefully it will encourage most students to take the bus to school as a result.”