Bowtown Road to Movilla Road Link, Newtownards

 

Status
Construction scheme (proposed)
Where
To construct a link road connecting the Bowtown Road to the Movilla Road round the east of Newtownards.
Total Length
1.4 km / 0.9 miles
Dates
2007 - Included in Sub-Regional Transport Plan
March 2009 - Included in adopted Ards and Down Area Plan
2021 – Developer releases up-to-date plan for site.

No date for construction - to be developer led

Cost
Unknown - to be funded by private developers
Photos
None as yet - please contact me if you have any to contribute.
See Also

General area map - Google Maps

Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 - Planning Service

Click here to jump straight down to updates.

The Ards and Down Area Plan 2015, which was adopted in 2009, foresees significant growth in housing in Newtownards. The land is divided into two "Phases". Phase 1 lands must be fully developed before Phase 2 lands are released. The bulk of the proposed housing land lies to the east of the town (Phase 1) and the north-east of the town (Phase 2). The largest area of land has the designation NS 19 and is shown on the map below. A condition of planning is that a distributor road must be built traversing the site, connecting Bowtown Road to Movilla Road. The map below was released in 2021 and shows the proposed route of the road at that time. The land to be developed incorporates what was named "NS 19" in the A&ND Area Plan 2015.

Map of a road running in a gentle S-curve
                          from bottom left to top right, with propsoed
                          housing on each side.

Map, dating from 2021, of the proposed route of the link road running from Bowtown Road (bottom left) to Movilla Road (top right). Image is from Pragma Planning, here.

This scheme ties in to two other schemes that will, ultimately, lead to the creation of a partial "ring" road round the east of Newtownards from the A20 Portaferry Road in the south to the A21 Bangor Road dual-carriageway in the north. The two further components that would be needed to make this a reality are:

Updates

24 May 2024: With grateful thanks to K Nash for letting me know that Pragma Planning had published a map of the proposed route of this link road back in 2021, which I missed at the time. I have included the map further up this page. The road largely follows the expected route, but the most noticeable thing from a roads perspective is the roundabout at the north end. The continuation of the road to the north of Movilla Road is already under construction, but it meets Movilla Road at a priority T-junction. This map suggests that once the fourth arm is added to the junction it will become a roundabout. Another roundabout is planned at the terminus on Bowtown Road.