{"id":523288,"date":"2025-06-24T12:45:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=523288"},"modified":"2025-06-24T12:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:49:08","slug":"judge-pushes-2-1bn-road-upgrade-into-long-grass-over-climate-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/legal\/judge-pushes-2-1bn-road-upgrade-into-long-grass-over-climate-targets-24-06-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge stops \u00a32.1bn road upgrade over climate targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A judge has ruled that a \u00a32.1bn upgrade to turn the A5 in Northern Ireland into a dual carriageway cannot go ahead as it does not meet the country\u2019s climate change targets.<\/p>\n

Sitting at the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice McAlinden found there was an \u201cinadequacy of information for the purpose of lawful decision making\u201d around the project \u2013 which received the green light from Northern Ireland\u2019s Department for Infrastructure in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, Northern Ireland may have difficulty staying within the first carbon budget that has now been set\u201d if the project went ahead, he warned.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Northern Ireland Executive published its Draft Climate Plan, which targets emission reductions in nine sectors, including transport.<\/p>\n

The judge also said the department \u201cfailed to address the human rights concerns\u201d of some of those living along the route of the road.<\/p>\n

But he said the \u201cshortcomings and shortcuts [\u2026] are capable of being remedied\u201d.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins told the BBC\u00a0that it was an \u201cextremely disappointing day\u201d, but said she would not be giving up on the project.<\/p>\n

The A5 upgrade has been in the works since 2007, and was originally earmarked for completion in 2018<\/a>. At the time, it was valued at \u00a3799m. In October, Northern Ireland\u2019s Department for Infrastructure valued the project at \u00a32.1bn.<\/p>\n

The dualling of the 88km road has been touted for years due to it being known to be dangerous. Since 2006 there have been more than 50 deaths on the road.<\/p>\n

The A5 stretches from south of the city of Derry\/Londonderry<\/span> to an area south of the village of Aughnacloy. Introductory works began earlier this year on the section of the road between Strabane and Ballygawley, following the October decision to greenlight the project.<\/p>\n

At the time, former infrastructure minister John O\u2019Dowd \u2013 now finance minister \u2013 said he was \u201cfully committed to delivering the entire project\u201d, but said construction would start between Strabane and Ballygawley because that section was regarded as the most dangerous.<\/p>\n

As well as improving safety, he said the project would \u201cprovide for critically important infrastructure improvements\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will address regional imbalance, create jobs, benefit the economy and improve journey times for the thousands of daily users of this route,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A judge has ruled that a \u00a32.1bn upgrade to turn the A5 in Northern Ireland into a dual carriageway cannot go ahead as it does not meet the country\u2019s climate change targets. Sitting at the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice McAlinden found there was an \u201cinadequacy of information for the purpose of lawful decision …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90643,"featured_media":523316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,565,578,556],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civils","category-government","category-legal","category-sustainability","issue-online-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJudge stops \u00a32.1bn road upgrade over climate targets | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A judge has ruled that a \u00a32.1bn upgrade to turn the A5 in Northern Ireland into a dual carriageway cannot go ahead as it does not meet the country\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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