Province Ulster | ||
 | ||
The A24 is a major road in Northern Ireland; running from Belfast, through Carryduff and Ballynahinch to Clough, near Newcastle where it meets the A2.
Map of A24, Belfast BT8, UK
The section of the A24 from Forestside Shopping Centre to Carryduff roundabout was named by European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) as one of the six most dangerous sections of road in Northern Ireland in 2005. This part of the road is a four-lane undivided carriageway.
There are plans to build a by-pass of the A24 around Ballynahinch. Work is planned to start in 2017 and be completed in 2019, provided the £40-50 million the project is expected to cost becomes available. Geological surveys were conducted over twenty years ago to determine the route of the bypass. In the 1990s, various traffic control measures were introduced, including the present one-way system. All have failed, however, to cope with the sheer volume of traffic which passes through the town daily. The establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998 led to reports that a by-pass may commence sooner than the 6- to 15-year projection of the Direct Rule administration, supposing that a coalition of County Down MLAs could push the Executive to approve the project faster than Northern Ireland Office ministers would. The stop-start nature of devolution, however, made such a move impossible.