New bus stop agreed between Translink and village residents

Catriona Loughran • Published 15 Oct 2009 09:00 8 Comments

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Lisbellaw's new stop comes into operation

Children in Lisbellaw will no longer have to worry about crossing the busy A4 Dublin Road to catch the bus to school each morning after proposals were agreed to introduce a pick up/set down bus facility on the approach to the village.

For the past two years children attending Fivemiletown College have had to cross the busy route after Translink pulled its Ulsterbus Goldliner service from passing through the village due to cars being parked along the congested narrow street.

Children were left to cross the road, which carries over 12,000 vehicles per day, and wait at designated bus shelters to get the bus to school.

And when they arrived home in the dark winter months, they were left to walk along the road and into Lisbellaw without the aid of street lighting.

But following a series of meetings between DUP council representatives, the PSNI and DRD Roads Service to try and resolve the issue, a properly designed bus terminus is to be developed to allow Translink's Goldliner service to leave and rejoin the A4 from the western approach.

This way school children can be safely collected and dropped off in the village where there is adequate street lighting.

DRD Roads Service also intend to reduce the speed limit at this location to 30mph and work on the facility should commence in six to eight weeks time.

Commenting on the proposal DUP Councillor Cyril Brownlee, who attended the meetings, said the facility ensures better safety for the local schoolchildren.

"When they took away the Ulsterbus service from coming through the town the children were at a loss and although bus shelters were put up on either side of the A4 to accommodate them it was still a risk to their safety. A mother told me recently that her son got stuck on the middle of the road trying to get the school bus in time and this is very, very dangerous indeed. I welcome the proposals of this new facility, which allows Ulsterbus Goldliner service to leave and rejoin the A4 from the Western approach, this would safely collect and drop the children safely in a fully-lit area which is very important especially when the times change this month."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Oct 09

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

mark
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Oct 15, 20:24
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this is the worst idea i think that they could have possibly came up with. This is just as inconvenient for the people getting the buses from the village! In the image u can see the morrison famuily egtting of the bus at the main road they are complaining about the bus stopping on the main road but it is more central for alot off people from lissbelaw and there is parking there to, the new plans our brillant for them because it is right at the bottem off there house, it makes my durny 1 half to the new bus station i dont know how that helps when it is raining dark and cold! If the road service and others just simply built a path to the bus shelters that are already there it would be better and there is already places that they could be put on eg the old railway track where it is already used by alot to get up to the buses! it is a wast off tax payers money! or another simple salotion would be to put the buses back through the village put double yellow lines on one side of the street and put the red coats there for a few days and that will pay back the costs of the paint in no time!!!!!!!

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marilyn
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Oct 15, 20:46
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i agree with the other comment as it is a waste off tax payers like me and family's money.

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Morrison
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Oct 16, 08:03
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We arent saying that we want the bus stop to be at the rathview side of lisbellaw. We're continuously saying that keeping it through lisbellaw would be the ideal solution, and all the residents agree. One street parking is the perfect idea Mark, I do completely agree. The problem is that people are not willing to walk more than the length of themselves to get to the shop. There is ample parking in the parish centre and orange hall but people simply are too lazy to use it. I understand that the new proposed bus stop is handy for me, but even then i'd prefer it to be in main street. Its more central, more accessible for everyone and ultimately, it'll help everyone. The new proposed roundabout would just be used by young drivers as a lisbellaw version of 'cruisers carpark'. Obviously not an ideal solution. Surely a better spend of money would be to paint yellow lines and get a traffic warden in for a few weeks to ticket cars on the line. People'll soon realise that they aren't getting away with it anymore. So again Mark, I totally agree with you!

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mark
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Oct 16, 10:36
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i agree with all that you have said 2 simple yellow lines down one side off the main street it would benefit us all even when driving through the village we wouldn't be caught in traffic

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clarke
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Oct 18, 01:42
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Why do the roads authority not make a dedicated bus space in the village on both sides of the road therefore avoiding any traffic congestion as no cars could block the road on those spaces. This is a most ridiculous sitiation which is inconvenient for old people and young people and the disadvantaged in society. It seems like the most simple solution.Why are small numbers of individuals in cars not inconvenienced but many bus passengers are?

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violet
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Oct 18, 03:52
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there are already bus lanes on both sides of lisbellaw street but people park on top of them. congestion is a major concern for everyone, not just buses so one side street parking being enforced would benefit all - i have had lots of support from friends and residents on this issue.

i never agreed to this new proposed bus stop although the newspaper article makes you believe otherwise - i have always said to restore the original service back through the village - the important thing is to get the busstop of the busy A4 esp in dark afternoons.the new proposed busstop would be convenient for us but not for the rest of the village esp elderly residentsbut it would also present a whole new set of problems, namely incresed traffic to this side of lisbellaw, esp youg drivers using the new proposed roundabout as a racetrack. i feel it is absolute madness to spend thousands on a new busstop when we already have a viable one beside the shop.

we just need an MLA brave enough to introduce one side street parking. i feel it would even benefit traders as they could get their lorries through easier esp if there was a designated parking bay behind busstop

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mark
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Oct 19, 12:45
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I totally agree with that comment violet, if we where 2 get proper parking in the village it would be all the better for everyone, then the money that they are going to use on the bus stop could be better spent on somthing that the village actually needs. we need to speak out as a community more and stick together to get a better village for the people we dont need a new bus stop at the top we need busses to run to the bus stop that we all ready have and all the better on the ne sided paring in the village! most other villages that once had two sides of the steet to park on and now only have one are better off and traffic flows better e.g. ballimalrd

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violet
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Oct 22, 01:46
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meeting at 8pm in lisbellaw parish centre on tues night 28th oct. hopefully MLAs, translink and roads service will be there , please come along and support lisbellaw residents to get our bus service reinstated in lisbellaw village

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