£2 Million Investment in Flood Alleviation Scheme for Toome Road, Ballymena gets Underway
13 January 2020 10:36
NI Water is pleased to announce that a £2 million Flood Alleviation Scheme for the Toome Road/Wakehurst Road area of Ballymena is now underway, which will bring major benefits to the area. The scheme is expected to take 18 months to complete.
This project will help resolve historical internal and external ‘out of sewer’ flooding issues, and when complete will increase the capacity of the existing sewerage system.
David McClean NI Water Project Manager said:
“We at NI Water are delighted that this major investment at Toome Road is now well underway, which will bring many improvements to our customers, including improving the local sewerage infrastructure and providing additional storage during periods of heavy rain, which will substantially reduce the risk of future flooding.“The project involves the upgrade of existing sewers, as well as the installation of new sewers on Wakehurst Park, Wakehurst Road, Queen Street and Toome Road. Construction of a large storage tank is also underway on land adjacent to the council playing fields at Wakehurst Road.
“NI Water will continue to work with all our local stakeholders regarding the programming and traffic management arrangements for these works and would like to thank the public for their patience and cooperation while we complete this essential scheme.”
The investment at Toome Road is a great example of what can be done when there is sufficient investment in the water and wastewater infrastructure. In the PC15 funding period (2015 to 2021) the total investment in Mid and East Antrim Council will be around £61.8m; for the PC21 funding period (2021 to 2027), NI Water is bidding for £262.6m. This money is needed for two things; firstly to maintain and keep the existing water and wastewater assets in the Council area running and secondly to address identified capacity and potential environmental issues. Further investment is essential to improve future water and wastewater services for our customers.
The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council Councillor Maureen Morrow added:
“The Council welcomes this major investment for Ballymena, which will greatly improve services for NI Water customers in the local area.
“I was impressed to see great construction progress at the storage tank, which will help protect the local sewerage infrastructure and reduce the risk of future flooding.”
BSG is the main contractor for this major programme of work with McAdam Design providing Project Management and technical support.
Photo captions: David McClean NI Water Project Manager pictured on site with the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council Councillor Maureen Morrow.
(L-R) Stephen Wilson McAdam Design, Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council Councillor Maureen Morrow, NI Water’s David McClean and Paul McSparran of BSG Civil Engineering pictured on site.
For further information and media enquiries please contact press.office@niwater.com or call 02890 357695.