St Patrick's Link Road in Ballymena

The St Patrick’s Link Road project has successfully delivered significant social value through its innovative and sustainable approach.

The £9.7M road is the catalyst to the regeneration of the decommissioned St Patrick’s Barracks site, generating £160M of redevelopment opportunity in the form 135 social housing properties, a new leisure centre, an I4C innovation centre, an 5000m2 outdoor event space and a new Police Station.

This redevelopment will not only physically transform the area but will be a strategic investment in its social value. 

Amey incorporated a new set of social value clauses within the scheme’s contract documentation, with this being a first for highway infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The Amey Project Management team worked collaboratively with the Contractor, FP McCann to exceed the contract's social value requirements.

The project involves construction of 2.4km of new single carriageway road including a new signalised traffic junction on the existing A26 dual carriageway. It features a shared cycleway along the entire scheme incorporating multiple connections to adjacent walking paths, enhancing accessibility, promoting active travel and encouraging cohesive integration of various modes of mobility.

As the project embraced sustainable design principles from the outset a focus was on the re-use of recovered onsite materials, resulting in a 700 tonne saving in embodied carbon. The project is currently undertaking a BREEAM (CEEQUAL) sustainability assessment and has achieved headline figures:

• 86,000 tonnes of material recovered for re-use on site
• 15,000 tonnes of demolition material for re-use on site
• 3,500 tonnes of material have been recycled.

Measures were implemented to restore and create new habitats, comprising of native plantings, wetland areas, and wildlife corridors.
This included the planting of:

• 282 semi mature trees
• 8000m2 of wildflower mix
• 8000m2 of wetland mix within the floodplain compensation area
• 14,000m2 of plants and shrubs along the length of the link.

Amey facilitated over 20 scheme presentations, created over 500 hours of CPD opportunities fostering ongoing learning and skills enhancement.

By providing ten early career opportunities and arranging visits for local schools the project has invested in the educational and social development of the community.

Community engagement was at the heart of the project. Amey accommodated a site walkover for the local Men’s Shed project, hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning and supported a local Trussell Trust foodbank.

These endeavours have empowered individuals, they have improved skills and knowledge, and fostered positive relationships between the project team and the community.