The opening of the Derry-Dungiven section of the new A6 road has been hailed as "hugely significant" but an MP has warned that "lessons need to be learned" from long delays.
Traffic is flowing freely in both directions of the new dual carriageway after thousands of traffic cones were removed from the early hours of Thursday morning.
The first vehicles were permitted onto the new road shortly after 9am this morning, heading in the direction of Derry, before both sides were opened later in the day.
Read more: New A6 'park and ride' to open a day after upgraded Derry road opens to traffic
The road upgrade is one of the largest ever undertaken in Northern Ireland and was beset with delays the Department for Infrastructure has attributed to the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues.
After four-and-a-half years, Thursday's opening marks the end of the longest-running road upgrade in Northern Ireland's history.
Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill was amongst those welcoming the news.
"This is a hugely significant day," she said. "Many years of hard work have gone into transforming this road and unlocking huge opportunities for the north west and improving its connections."
“Not only will this upgrade greatly improve this road and make it safer, it will also cut journey times for the thousands of people who use the A6 every day."
She continued: “The Dungiven bypass, which has been campaigned for for many years, will now divert the constant bottleneck of traffic out of the town and make the air cleaner for the people who live there."
DUP MP Gregory Campbell also welcomed the news but warned in an interview with Belfast Live that lessons must be learned from the handling of delays.
"It is excellent news," he said. "It is long overdue. I and others complained about the lack of information that we recieved about the delays.
"In statements that DfI are putting out they are citing the pandemic and the lockdown, but in the middle of the lockdown when I asked if this would affect the opening of the road I received a written reply that said it would not affect the opening.
"This is great news but lessons need to be learned because this will not be the last large-scale roads expansion in Northern Ireland.
"The A5 will hopefully come on stream. The completion of the A6 down to Gransha has to be undertaken. The last thing we want to see is this problem happen again."
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