Minister Officially Opens £104Million M1/Westlink Scheme

Roads Minister Conor Murphy has opened the M1/Westlink upgrade marking the completion of the three year £104million scheme.

At the opening ceremony Minister Murphy said the improvements to this key strategic route will deliver huge benefits to the local economy.

He said: “The construction of two new underpasses at Broadway and Grosvenor Road junctions will ensure shorter and more reliable journey times, which will benefit all road users, including public transport, the haulage industry, as well as private car users.

"The M1/Westlink Scheme was one of the most complex and challenging civil engineering projects that Roads Service had undertaken. It involved the construction of a large temporary bridge at Grosvenor Road and the diversion of two rivers and major underground services at Broadway to allow the two underpasses to be constructed at these junctions.

“Given the complexity of this project and the difficulties that the construction team faced I welcome the early completion of this project some five months ahead of programme. It is also important to acknowledge the contractor’s excellent safety record on this major scheme, which has been delivered without any serious accidents."

At the height of construction over 450 people were employed on the M1/Westlink and M2 improvements schemes and to date, over two million man hours have been worked on the construction of these schemes. This is equivalent to 50 men working for 20 years

Mr Murphy said although road users had experienced some delays during construction the widely predicted traffic congestion had never materialised.

He said: “The limited impact of the works on traffic is a result of careful planning by Roads Service and the contractor HMC and the introduction of a range of temporary traffic management measures to minimise disruption. These included the creation of two new park and ride sites at Blacks Road and Sprucefield, with a dedicated bus service along the M1 hard shoulder."

The Minister also acknowledged the excellent public response during the road works, who either switched to public transport or simply altered their travel pattern patterns to avoid the Westlink. "This reduced the impact of the works and benefited all road users, " he said.

Leo Martin, Project Director for HMC said: “The excellent safety record and the early completion could only have been achieved through meticulous planning, exceptional teamwork, patience and some remarkable innovative methods of construction. The construction of the underpasses, and the on-line widening, were particularly challenging but made to look effortless by a team of dedicated staff and subcontractors who worked tirelessly throughout the last three years to get us to where we are today."

Notes to Editors:

1. The M1/Westlink Improvements involved the construction of two new underpasses to remove the bottlenecks at Broadway and Grosvenor Road junctions and widening the M1 motorway and Westlink to provide three continuous lanes between Stockman’s Lane and Divis Street junctions.
2. The improvements have been funded by the private sector using a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) type of contract. Under this form of contract, the contractor provides the capital funds and is repaid by an annual fee over 30 years.
3. Roads Service DBFO Package 1 also includes major works to widen the M2 motorway between Sandyknowes and Greencastle junctions as well as the provision of slip-roads onto the M2 at Antrim Area Hospital.
4. The contract will include the maintenance of some 60 km of motorway and trunk roads for a period of 30 years.
5. Highway Management (City) Limited, is an international consortium comprising John Graham (Dromore) Limited, Northstone Ltd (formerly Farrans Ltd) and Bilfinger Berger.
6. Media queries to: Emma Flynn Davies, Department for Regional Development, Tel: 02890 90540817. Out of office hours, contact EIS Duty Press Office on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.