A Blackwatertown parent is leading a campaign for traffic calming measures to be urgently introduced to the village, arguing that vehicles often “easily” reach 50mph on the main street.
Father-of-two, Caolan Christie moved to the village some ten years ago, however, his wife has lived there her entire life. The historic village named for its location on the River Blackwater makes for an ideal place to raise a young family.
It boasts a popular primary school, restaurant, café, convenience store, gym, community hall and local play park. It’s also conveniently located close to both Armagh city and the popular shopping town of Moy.
Arguably, the one drawback of life in Blackwatertown is the speeding.
His children would often walk along the main street and roads that lead to the playpark. At times, he says, traffic has been forced to slow to let them cross.
At times children have also emerged onto the road from between whereby road users would be forced to break suddenly.
It’s a constant worry for parents and for staff of the local primary school, St Jarlath’s, who would have many families and pupils walking the short distance to and from school during peak travel times in the morning and early afternoons.
In recent years, Caolan says there has been a collision on the main street involving two cars, one which he believes was likely travelling in excess of the speed limit.
Countless animals and pets have also fallen prey to fast-moving traffic… thankfully no residents of the area have suffered the same fate. And, Caolan isn’t prepared to wait until that happens.
He’s not alone. Several Blackwatertown residents have expressed growing concerns about vehicle speeds and the impact this is having on their safety… particularly for pedestrians, families, and vulnerable road users.
The same stretch of road during daylight showing the corner and poor visibility between cars
There is a complete absence of traffic calming measures in the village save for 30mph speed limit signage when entering the area.
In the last year, Caolan has brought the issue to the attention of Sinn Féin MLA for Fermanagh and South, Colm Gildernew, who he says has been “supportive” of many community association matters.
Other residents have also raised the matter with local Councillors, but to little avail.
In July 2025, Caolan contacted Roads Service directly and was regrettably informed they had “no plans to install Traffic calming in Blackwatertown”.
His email to the Roads Service requested a traffic assessment on the two main roads in Blackwatertown, Main Street BT71 7HL for the installation of possible road humps and the B128 Main road beside the kids play park.
He also requested they evaluate the situation there and consider the “implementation of appropriate traffic calming measures, such as traffic lights or a pedestrian crossing to reduce vehicle speeds and enhance road safety”.
Unwilling to accept the Roads Service response, Caolan requested to have someone come out to meet himself and other residents and was advised someone would get back to him by October 31.
Over three months past that deadline and he says, “I’m still waiting on someone from the department to contact me”.
