Kimmins injects £2.5M to fix Northern Ireland’s winter-damaged roads

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has announced an additional £2.5million investment in essential roads maintenance this financial year, reinforcing her commitment to tackling the toll recent severe weather has taken on Northern Ireland’s road network.

Since December, Minister Kimmins has overseen more than £40million in roads funding, including a £30million December Monitoring Allocation supporting 40 resurfacing schemes and a £7.85million Winter Recovery Road Fund targeting the worst-affected areas.

This latest injection of funds aims to strengthen repair efforts and ensure road safety for communities across the region.

Minister Kimmins said:

“I am committed to doing all I can to improve our roads and am pleased today to confirm additional funding of £2.5million which will be allocated for essential roads maintenance in this financial year.

“Everyone will by now be all too aware of the toll on our road network due to recent severe conditions. I recently announced £7.85million for a Winter Recovery Fund to help us address the worst affected areas as soon as possible.

“I had asked my officials to explore as a matter of urgency every avenue to maximise our available workforce capacity to ensure we are doing as much as we can. Following engagement with our contractors we have secured additional capacity which will allow us to carry out essential repairs across our roads divisions.

“I would encourage the public to continue to report potholes and other surface defects via the online portal. We will continue to inspect and make-safe defects by working to address the highest priority defects as quickly as we can.”

Members of the public can report potholes or other road surface defects through the official online portal at www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/report-pothole-or-other-surface-defect, helping authorities prioritise repairs efficiently.

This boost in funding is expected to accelerate the repair of key routes across Northern Ireland, offering reassurance to drivers and communities facing ongoing disruption from winter weather damage.