To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail any mitigations that can be put in place to prevent traffic congestion during the simultaneous ongoing works by Northern Ireland Electricity Networks on the Ballymaconaghy Road and the closure of lanes on the Knockbracken Road, South Belfast.

I can advise that officials are currently dealing with a number of developer-led and utility works in the Carryduff area.

The developer-led road improvement scheme at the junction of A24 Saintfield Road and Knockbracken Road commenced on Tuesday 6 August 2024 and is programmed to be completed by July 25.

Officials have recently been in discussions with NIE about 600m of cable laying on the Ballymaconaghy Road to provide service connections and to upgrade their network.

On balance, officials agreed to the works starting to allow them to meet connection targets and due to the possible knock-on effect of more major works which are likely to take place on Ballymaconaghy Road during this summer.

While the works are programmed to last four weeks, officials did delay NIE from starting until works at an adjacent housing site on Ballymaconaghy Road had progressed to a stage where the two works did not impact on each other. It is however appreciated that there remains a level of conflict with the works the Saintfield Road/Knockbracken Road junction.

Please be assured that every effort is made to coordinate and plan roadworks to minimise the impact on road users. However, given the number, scale and complexity of these projects, some overlap is unavoidable.