A6 Londonderry to Dungiven About the Scheme
Previous A6 Improvements
During the latter part of World War II considerable thought was given to post-war planning. The inner portion of the present M1 and M2 motorways were foreshadowed in an Interim Report – ‘Planning Proposals for the Belfast Area’, published in 1945. A further report Road Communications in Northern Ireland 
, published in 1946, advocated the early construction of a motorway between Belfast and Portadown , the bypassing of about twenty towns and the improvement at Government expense of the main ‘arterial’ routes in the province. This evolved into the 1960’s Proposed Strategic Road Network which envisaged a motorway to Coleraine and Londonderry and reconstruction of the remainder of the trunk road system. Londonderry County Council carried out a large programme of road works from 1950 onwards including reconstruction of the A6 Londonderry to Castledawson road to a high standard single carriageway. Lack of finance stopped construction of a single carriageway Dungiven bypass . September 1966 and September 1968 Tour Souvenirs of Londonderry County Council road schemes chronicle works completed, under construction and in planning. A later Roads Service map chronicles works completed up to 1989.
Current A6 Improvements
The Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan 2015, published in 2005, included proposals for a single carriageway bypass of Dungiven and to improve overtaking opportunities on the A6. A subsequent examination of three potential route corridors concluded that a single carriageway bypass of Dungiven should follow a corridor south of Dungiven and North of the River Roe. Overtaking opportunities were constructed east and west of Burntollet Bridge and east of Ballyhanedin Road .
The Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI), launched in November 2005, set a new, comprehensive approach to be used by government to make informed decisions as to the investment priorities for Northern Ireland for the ten year period 2005 to 2015. The ISNI confirmed that implementation of the Regional Transportation Strategy was already bringing considerable investment in the roads network across Northern Ireland. To achieve the aspirations of the Economic Vision for Northern Ireland required an even more forward looking approach to ensure the key infrastructure was in place so that Northern Ireland would be prepared for inward investment. ISNI confirmed plans to commence additional investment that would result in higher standard roads providing improved access for commercial traffic, buses and private cars, mainly on the Key Transport Corridors connecting Northern Ireland’s major cities, including key cross borders routes. This would be the start of what could become a £1bn investment on the strategic network which would allow additional major road improvement schemes over and above those in the RSTNTP. The first of the schemes to benefit from the funding was the 30km dual carriageway from Londonderry to Dungiven , including a dual carriageway bypass of Dungiven.
Roads Service had already examined strategies for the future improvement of the A6 between Londonderry and the Castledawson Roundabout. Ten corridors were examined – seven lying to the north of the existing road, two lying south of the existing road and one loosely following the line of the existing road. This examination recommended that any improvement should follow a corridor loosely based around the line of the existing road between Castledawson Roundabout and Drumahoe except at Dungiven where a bypass south of the town was recommended, and a cross country corridor between Drumahoe and the Caw Roundabout north east of Londonderry. It also recommended that the western section of the route including the Dungiven Bypass should be taken forward at an early stage to provide improved overtaking opportunities for strategic traffic and to allow consideration of bypasses for some of the communities along the route. A preferred route was selected following comprehensive assessment of several possible routes within the preferred corridor. Roads Service published Draft Statutory Orders (Trunk Road Order, Private Access Order, Vesting Orders) and Environmental Statements for the proposed scheme on Wednesday 14 December 2011. Non-Technical Summaries of the Environmental Statement describe the Londonderry to Claudy and Claudy to Dungiven parts of the scheme.
The Northern Ireland Executive Budget 2011-15 set out spending plans for the four year period from April 2011 to March 2015. Given the reduction by two fifths in the Executive’s overall capital funding, the funds currently allocated to the Department for Regional Development would not allow construction of the A6 Londonderry to Dungiven dual carriageway to commence before 2014-2015 at the earliest.
