Traders fed up over another stuck bus on Derry hill
A Translink coach getting stuck at the bottom of one of Londonderry's steepest streets has led to fresh calls for better warning signs to stop it happening again.
Rush-hour traffic was severely disrupted on Thursday morning after the 212 Belfast to Derry service became wedged at Fountain Hill's junction with Spencer Road.
A crane was used to hoist the coach free and eventually reopen the road.
It is not the first time a crane has been needed to shift a stricken vehicle and it's only four weeks since another bus got stuck at the same junction.
These are just the latest incidents of a number going back several years, despite there being a number of warning signs on the roads approaching Fountain Hill.
Now traders on Spencer Road say more serious action is needed.
“We need more and bigger signs or just a blanket ban on buses and lorries coming down,” barber Paddy Burns told BBC Radio Foyle’ North West Today programme.
He said his business was seriously impacted on Thursday because of the blocked road.
“The whole street has been like a ghost town and it’s not good enough,” Mr Burns said.
“Quite often we hear cars scraping their way down, never mind buses. It has too much of a knock-on affect to be ignored."
Darcy Taylor, who was among the passengers on the bus on Thursday, said: “You just knew going down Fountain Hill there was going to be a problem.
“I felt sorry for the bus driver because I don’t think he was expecting it. It happens far too often and when you’re at the top of the hill there’s not much room to go anywhere else but down it."
“I felt sorry for the bus driver because I don’t think he was expecting it. It happens far too often and when you’re at the top of the hill there’s not much room to go anywhere else but down it”.
Public transport operator Translink has apologised “for any inconvenience caused”.
It said the coach got stuck at about 08:30 and passengers were then transferred to another bus to finish their journey.
Normally, Translink coach services between Belfast and Derry travel to the city centre bus station via a different route than the one travelled on Thursday morning.
People working in the area believe sat-navs are sending unaware drivers down Fountain Hill.
They say the warning signs – there are three on roads leading towards the area – are not prominent enough.
According to police figures, at least six vehicles have become stuck at the junction in the last four years.
“There are signs at the top of the hill but there clearly needs to be more and bigger ones,” Mary Dooher, who works in a florist on Spencer Road, told BBC Radio Foyle.
“Even a car has issues coming down Fountain Hill so it’s not for buses or lorries for sure,” she said.
BBC News NI has contacted Stormont’s Department for Infrastructure for comment.
Running from the top of Chapel Road, Fountain Hill is one of a number of extremely steep streets connecting to Derry’s Spencer Road, one of the busiest commercial roads in the city’s Waterside.
Last year it was announced a safety review into the junction of Spencer Road and Barnewall Place, which runs adjacent to Fountain Hill, was to be carried out after two cars crashed into business units during icy weather.
