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Road Improvements - Introduction

The Department for Regional Development (DRD) is responsible for strategic planning; transportation strategy; ports and public transport; roads and water policy; providing and maintaining roads; and providing and maintaining water and sewage services. Roads Service, a business unit within the Department for Regional Development, is responsible for public roads, footways, bridges, car parks and street lighting throughout Northern Ireland. The road network plays a vital role in promoting economic growth in Northern Ireland where 99% of freight and people movements are by road.  For further details see "More Information" side panel.

Strategic Road Improvements are managed under three programmes:

  • The Construction Programme which contains those schemes which have completed the statutory procedures (where applicable) and for which funding has been confirmed.
  • The Preparation Pool which allows high priority schemes to be taken through the statutory procedures, including acquisition of land, in advance of funding being confirmed. Subsequent progression into the Construction Programme is dependent on the level of funding available at that time.
  • The Forward Planning Schedule which contains a number of schemes, which together with those in the Preparation Pool, could be started within the next 10 years or so, subject to satisfactory economic and other appraisals, availability of funding, and satisfactory progression through the statutory procedures.

Useful Documents