The deteriorating potholes at Riverside Retail Park has been branded “an appalling situation that has been allowed to go on” by a local businessman.
Claire Sugden, Independent MLA spoke in Stormont about the potholes in Coleraine’s Riverside Retail Park. In an exchange with the Infrastructure Minister, Liz Kimmons, Ms. Sugden said: “the road may eventually be shut if it continues to deteriorate.”
The busy Coleraine road, close to local car dealerships and the Jet Centre, has been deteriorating for many years. Speaking to Belfast Live, Ms. Sugden said “If you’ve driven into Riverside Retail Park in Coleraine, you’ll know the road I mean. It’s in awful condition. Potholes, deep cracks, constant wear. Thousands use it every day, and many have damaged their vehicles.”
Ms. Sugden has said she has repeatedly attempted to find out who owns the road. She added this was proving to be difficult for the council to fix these potholes, as the road does not belong to anyone. According to Ms. Sugden, no one can be identified.
Speaking to Belfast Live again, Ms. Sugden stated, in regard to the owner, that “So, whenever it was built in the first instance, obviously there was an owner at that stage—but as it’s [the retail park] gotten bigger, it’s gotten broken up into different parts.” “…it’s essentially fallen off the map; it’s fallen between the cracks.”
Therefore, the Department of Infrastructure cannot legally fix it without contacting the owner. However, it is understood that the DfI will “adopt” the road for its maintenance to fix the potholes that are causing damage to vehicles.
According to the DfI, under the Northern Ireland Road Network and Condition Statistics 2024-2025, there were 91,715 surface defects that were instructed for repair. By the end of the year, 81,483 surface defects were repaired. This is up from the statistics of 2023-2024, where 103,746 surface defects were instructed for repair, and 93,674 surface defects were repaired.
In this year, £466 million was spent on repairing Northern Ireland’s road condition. This is a 1.8% increase from 2023-2024. Over the past decade, there has been a shortfall in funding for road maintenance in Northern Ireland. This involves road resurfacing, structural drainage, and road surface dressing.
