Mattest awarded the testing on both the A26 Glarryford to Drones Road and the A31 Magherafelt By-Pass
Main contractor BAM/McCann JV have begun work on the A26 and A31 road contract.
The A26 is an upgrade to dual carriageway category 5 standard on the stretch of single carriageway between Glarryford and the A44 Drones Road Junction.
The work will improve this length of the A26 (Frosses Road) to dual carriageway standard as identified in the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan 2015. Improve road safety on this length of the A26 (Frosses Road). Reduce traffic congestion at peak times through this section of the A26 (Frosses Road) and in doing so improve vehicle operating costs and journey times.
The A31 provides the key transport route between Cookstown, Moneymore, Magherafelt and Belfast. The provision of a new bypass will generate a number of benefits for road users helping to reduce congestion, improve journey times and road safety in Magherafelt.
The section of the A31 through Magherafelt currently carries approximately 25,000 vehicles per day (Broad Street) and is an important link for business, commuters, local residents and tourism.
Construction of the scheme will provide approximately six kilometres of new carriageway between the A31 Moneymore Road at Coolshinney Road, south west of Magherafelt and the A6 at Castledawson Roundabout, north east of Magherafelt.
Mattest Director Gordon Ellis stated that the award of both contracts was a prime example of providing good service to key customers as the work was negotiated without major interference from competitors. The contracts are of 2 years duration and Gordon also stated that this would give a welcome boost to the business since work levels in NI are very depressed at this moment.