Police in Lisburn and Castlereagh said they received a number of reports about one particularly large pothole on the Ballygowan Road between approximately 5.50pm and 7.05pm on Saturday evening (January 31).
Local Sergeant Brannigan said: “A number of cars were reported to have sustained punctures in the vicinity of Ryan Park as a result of driving over this pothole and had to stop at the side of the road as a result.
“Officers subsequently attended the scene to assist with traffic management.”
Mallon Brothers Funeral Directors’ car was damaged by a pothole close to Roselawn Crematorium
The same road made headlines last Wednesday, after a limousine carrying a deceased body to a cremation at Roselawn Crematorium suffered two flat tyres, which were caused by the damaged road surface.
Christopher Mallon of Mallon Funeral Directors said some of the family were forced to walk the remainder of the journey.
When contacted by the Belfast Telegraph last week, DfI said staff had been sent to assess the location and that the Ballygowan Road was due to be resurfaced overall.
However, a few days later, on Saturday evening, East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said that he had “been alerted to a series of vehicles suffering blown out tyres at the top of the Ballygowan Road”.
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“This is despite DfI knowing of the defects and considerable publicity in the last few days,” he continued.
“David Brooks MLA has been liaising with PSNI and I have been liaising with DfI.
“Please drive safely. It’s a busy route and important given the direct access to Roselawn.
The continued delay in an appropriate fix is totally unacceptable.”
On Monday, a spokesperson for the department said: “A temporary repair of the pothole at Ballygowan Road/Ryan Park was undertaken on Saturday evening and a permanent repair was completed earlier today.
“The Minister is actively working on a package to remedy the impact that the recent severe weather conditions have had on our roads while maintenance staff will continue to inspect and make-safe defects in accordance with our policy to ensure the safety of the travelling public.”
One caller to the BBC’s Stephen Nolan Show on Monday morning said he understands that upwards of a dozen vehicles were damaged on Saturday night, as a result of the uneven and cracked asphalt.
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The caller said that he felt his car “was almost going to collapse” after hitting a specifically large pothole, following a drive from Forestside.
“It was a massive shudder through the car, and then I realised obviously that it had been quite a bad pothole; no warning, it’s very badly lit around that area, and then as I moved further round the corner… I could see then about eight cars lined up on the left-hand side of the road with their hazards [lights] on,” he explained.
As he drove on towards the Moneyreagh direction – having believed he had escaped doing any real damage to his own car – the caller said he noticed a burning smell.
When he got out of his vehicle he realised his tyre was almost completely flat, right down to the rim of the wheel.
Ballygowan Road on Saturday night (31 January). Pic credit: Gavin Robinson MP
News catch up – Monday 2 February
He added that he drove back to the Ballygowan Road to take photos of the pothole for his compensation claims.
He then noticed that a member of the public had taken it upon themselves to put a cone in front of the largest pothole, to deter others from also driving into it.
“By that stage, there were 12 cars then lined up. Now that corner, before Roselawn – in the last 20 years, there’ve been five deaths on that part of the road, so it’s already a known hazard,” the caller, also named Steven, continued.
“So to have a pothole that scale and size, already flagged up, not being properly resolved, is indefensible. Why did it take a member of the public to stand by the road and try and flag cars to slow down?”
