Bus lanes, rush hour visitors and accidents — getting throughout Northern Eire’s capital by automobile at peak occasions is usually a nightmare, however simply how dangerous can it get?
The Belfast Telegraph received behind the wheel and drove from the south of the town to the north, by way of the town centre, at rush hour on consecutive week days to gauge how lengthy, on common, the journey takes.
We additionally checked out bus lanes throughout Belfast and obtained figures which reveal these by which drivers have been issued essentially the most fines.
Over the past 5 years, Donegall Sq. East has racked up essentially the most fines for drivers illegally utilizing them at 27,556. Subsequent on the desk is Nice Victoria Road, the place 19,365 fines have been issued, and School Sq. East (11,970 fines).
On the backside of the desk is the bus lane on Donegall Highway, the place only one superb has been handed out within the final 5 years. Two fines have been issued regarding the bus lane on Crumlin Highway, whereas six have been issued on Oxford Road.
As a way to confirm roughly how lengthy it takes to get throughout the town at rush hour, we drove from simply off Ormeau Park in south Belfast, by way of the town centre, earlier than ending on the junction of Limestone Highway and Antrim Highway within the north of the town.
On common the journey took 20 minutes to traverse a distance of simply 4 miles. The longest it took was 26 minutes and the shortest was 18 minutes.
Roads knowledgeable Wesley Johnston stated the issues with Belfast’s transport issues began a long time in the past.
“The street system we now have in Belfast at present is actually an incomplete model of the 1969 transport plan. It envisaged an outer ring, an intermediate ring, an interior ring and the city motorway across the metropolis centre,” he stated.
“What we now have now could be half of outer ring, which is the bit in east and south Belfast, not one of the intermediate ring and we now have half of the interior ring, which might be the likes of Dunbar Hyperlink, Frederick Road and Millfield.
“By way of the city motorway, we now have half of that — the Westlink and the M3. So principally we now have an unfinished system. Since it's so unfinished it implies that just about all the things that goes from the north to the south of the town goes by way of one street, which is the Westlink and its busiest junction, the York Road Interchange. Which means there isn't a resilience within the system. Any blockage on the M1, M2, M3 or Westlink will have a tendency to simply clog up all the things up instantly. There’s no manner round that, actually.”
Mr Johnston stated the transport system was by no means accomplished because it was too formidable and it could have value greater than Northern Eire may afford.
“Then there’s public opposition — it could have concerned large quantities of demolition, significantly across the intermediate ring street. The Troubles was an element additionally, all the things form of received canned when direct rule got here in,” he stated.
“Now Belfast’s street community is working past capability. It’s been about 20 years because the authorities actually gave up and stopped making an attempt to construct new roads to satisfy the demand. Actually the one issues we are able to do are attempt to repair bottlenecks or transfer folks into various types of transport.
“The brand new York Road Interchange is one factor that’s being deliberate, however that gained’t resolve the issue. Now we have to be practical about that — it’s nonetheless going to be one junction. Getting folks on buses at park-and-rides has been very profitable over the past 10 years. Basically each one we’ve constructed has been full inside a number of years.
“They're good as a result of they're sensible and helpful to automobile drivers, as folks aren’t going to stroll to a bus cease in Saintfield and getting a bus from there, however they'll drive to a park-and-ride in Carryduff.
“So extra of these with high quality bus corridors going into the town can be a great factor to do. Encouraging folks to not make quick automobile journeys will assist as nicely. One of many legacies of the Troubles was that an terrible lot of individuals moved out of the town into satellite tv for pc cities like Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. So whereas each UK metropolis is automobile dependent, Belfast is extra so due to the Troubles.”
Belfast: In Focus - As a metropolis with an extended historical past of reinventing itself, in 2022 Belfast is as soon as once more below strain to wash up its act and fulfil its potential as a thriving hub for residents and guests alike. The Belfast Telegraph investigates the challenges dealing with the town, shines a lightweight on the tasks and insurance policies shifting it ahead, and envisages the Belfast of the longer term.