There seems to be no doubt that the road racing authorities are under pressure to prove that they are totally on top of safety issues.
We are now being told 9 weeks before the North West that chicanes will be constructed at Station & Mathers provided funding is obtained. Presumably the need for chicanes has been identified by some sort of safety assessment.
This would seem to imply that if work is not funded and completed within those 9 weeks the course would be unsafe for racing.