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The dire condition of subways in Newry city has been highlighted by a concerned reader who has pointed out issues with lack of lighting and slippery surfaces at the facilities. The subway at Courtney Hill is especially concerning as it has had no lighting for four weeks now.
The two subways in the city provide the only safe option for pedestrians to cross the busy Abbey Way dual carriageway. An outdoor exhibition of old photographs of Newry was installed in the subway at the bottom of High Street but due to vandalism much of it has been removed and not replaced.
Our reader explains that mothers and children in prams or people in Wheelchairs, mobility scooters etc walking to the city centre from Hennessy Park, O’Neil Avenue / Courtney Hill and Boat Street, have to contend with a subway that is dangerous and unsafe due especially to the lighting issue.
The subway at High Street has just one light fitting still remaining but even it isn't displaying its full brightness due to purple graffiti.
The reader has written to a local MLA and Councillors "I should not have to write to an MLA on this matter as I always assume Council Management are out there on the streets identifying local issues and resolving them, but as this is week four of no lighting, I thought I would write to you directly as it is a joint Council / Department of Infrastructure matter."
They concluded "I would suggest, the Councillor’s need to invite the Chief Executive of the Council to walk the City Centre with them once a month and see what it is like on the ground and observe the deteriorating condition of the public realm schemes which have not been maintained over the last five years and are now falling into disrepair."
