THERE have been calls for the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to take urgent action to cut back overhanging trees and foliage on what’s been dubbed ‘Belfast’s most deadly bend’.
The hairpin bend at Colinglen Road, where there is gated access to the popular Colin Glen forest park, needs to be negotiated with extreme care by pedestrians at the best of times. But with the single narrow footpath unusable in key parts thanks to overhanging trees and shrubbery, the fear is that it’s only a matter of time before someone is injured or even killed.
The bend is in a rural area but is only a pleasant walk away from built-up areas of the Glen Road and Poleglass. Residents of nearby housing developments have contacted us to plead for action to curb the danger. Families are particularly concerned in the new Colin Green Glen housing estate, where many of the children are spending their first summer in their new homes exploring the countryside.
Regular users of the footpath say they’ve been horrified to see children unfamiliar with the area walk on to the road on what’s a completely blind bend.
This reporter and our photographer walked the stretch of footpath and we can confirm that it is a terrifying experience.
One mother, who asked not to be named, said she has to use the Colinglen Road twice a week to pick up her young son from the nearby Country Oaks Daycare facility and that the DfI should act “as a matter of health and safety”.
“The footpath narrows off as you approach the bend anyway but has become inaccessible due to the overgrowth,” she said.
“I have had to step out on to the road to quickly run around to get back onto the wee bit of path that remains. It is very, very dangerous and something needs to be done about it. The trees and shrubs on the other side of the road, which doesn’t have a footpath, are cut back so why isn’t the other side done as well? Someone is going to get hurt if it isn’t sorted out soon,” she added.
