Debate contribution: Traffic Congestion: Belfast City Centre

Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on 9 December 2024.

MLA

Mr John O'Dowd

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

9 December 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Question for Urgent Oral Answer

Heading

Traffic Congestion: Belfast City Centre

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4698552

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I accept that there are delays and that journeys through the city centre by car are taking longer than normal while work is ongoing. That is why I previously made a statement to the Assembly to warn about and raise awareness of what was to come. The bigger, more general issue is that there are too many cars on the road and the network has limited resilience to cope with incidents such as those that occurred last Thursday evening, which coincided with peak traffic periods. Mitigating the congestion issue will take a huge collective approach, with everyone considering how they can play a part to help everyone to better share the limited road space available in a smarter way. I appeal to motorists to consider what other options they can take to avoid congestion, such as public transport, park-and-rides, active travel or, if possible, planning their journey so that they use an alternative route or avoid peak times. I have established a strategic oversight group comprising the Department for Infrastructure, Belfast City Council, the PSNI and Translink to consider what more can be done to ease congestion at peak times while work is ongoing. Mitigating the congestion issue will take a huge collective approach, with everyone considering how they can play a part to help everyone share the limited road space available in a smarter way.

There were particular incidents on Thursday night that brought a significant delay to traffic in Belfast city centre. There was an accident on the M1, accidents on the M2, traffic light failures on the Ormeau Road and a major public event in the SSE Arena. Those incidents came together to cause significant traffic congestion in the city. There was also very poor weather. Yes, those incidents caused significant congestion, but I caution Members who represent Belfast against sending out the message that Belfast is in crisis or that it is closed for business. Belfast is not in crisis and it is not closed for business. One of the reasons that there is so much traffic on the road is that Belfast is a very successful and busy city. Long may it remain so. I have taken the actions that I can within the powers that I have to ease that congestion. All traffic works, apart from some that are going on around Belfast Grand Central station, have been stopped; they were stopped on 25 November. In fact, the work on the Sydenham bypass stopped a week before that because the weather conditions were not suitable for those works to go ahead. All major traffic works around the city have stopped, as they have in other towns, in order to allow for the Christmas shopping spree. The fact remains that there are too many cars in too limited a space. Each of us has to make a decision as to how we deal with that. If you travel into Belfast city centre using a car, you should expect there to be congestion, and doing so leads to congestion for other people as well. I therefore appeal to people, where possible, to use public transport to come into the city to enjoy the thriving businesses and nightlife that Belfast city centre offers.

Up until last week, the group was meeting daily and is now probably meeting weekly, but I will provide the Member with details of how often the group is meeting. It is a strategic group. One of the important things to come from the strategic group is communication with others and the people whom the Member mentioned. I am not sure of the group's membership, but there are key strategic players that should be kept informed of developments when messages are sent out. Anyone who has avenues to engage with and message the public should send out the messages that we have heard not only from my Department but on the airwaves. Independent experts also say the same thing: Belfast is over-congested. There is nowhere else to build roads, and we should not build more roads in the city centre because it will only create more traffic. People should use public transport where they can. The Member used a very good example; she came from Fermanagh, where there is no rail service, but she drove to the rail connection. Thousands of people are doing that daily. They are using park-and-rides. They drive a certain part of the journey, park up and get on a bus. Other people drive a certain part of the journey and get on a train. Where you can, use public transport and come in and enjoy Belfast city centre.

We have considered a number of those options. Unfortunately, the resources available to my Department and Translink are extremely limited. However, the more people who use public transport, the more opportunity there is for us to lower the fares because more revenue will come into the public transport system. The park-and-ride services around the ring of Belfast have been increased to every 15 minutes. I accept that the private car is a very handy way to travel. It is very comfortable, you are in your own space, and all of that. The private car has been successful for a reason, and it will form part of our transport system in the future, although it will be powered by a different fuel. If you are coming into Belfast city centre, at this stage of the year in particular, you are going to face congestion. If you can, use public transport.

I have not directly engaged with the retail sector, but my officials are engaging with Belfast City Council. The promotion of the work that we do in cooperation with Belfast City Council is important. The Chair of the Committee has talked about using the retail sector as a voice for the city, and I have no difficulty with doing that. As I said earlier, Belfast city centre is experiencing so much traffic because Belfast city centre is doing very well, and long may it continue. I will do everything within my power to assist it in continuing to prosper going into the future. The Member will recall that I am going through the legislative process to allow taxis to use certain bus lanes. I have to say that it is not a universally popular decision. I am facing criticism for that decision, but that is the nature of the game, and I will continue with that process. The continued use of bus lanes is vital. One of the challenges that we faced in the city on Wednesday night, particularly around Shaftesbury Square, was caused by drivers blocking the yellow box junctions, which caused huge delays in the area and disrupted a significant number of Translink services. I appeal to drivers to not block the yellow box junctions. They are there for a reason, and while I can understand the frustration that builds up, once you block a box junction, you will have a negative impact on traffic in a significant part of the city and on public transport. We have asked the PSNI to specifically monitor yellow box junctions and to take appropriate action if they are being abused.

I do. It is not a case of trying to blame someone else or denying responsibility for the situation. I am aware of my responsibilities in ensuring that Belfast city centre has a traffic flow system that works, but I can do that only to a certain degree. As one of my officials said on the radio this morning, we cannot go round knocking down buildings and building new roads. Those are not options, so very limited engineering options are left to us in Belfast city centre. We are reviewing traffic lights and how they are used and timed. I mentioned the yellow box junctions and the appeal to drivers not to block them. We will look at the Grosvenor Road left-hand turn. That was put in place to protect pedestrians, particularly the thousands of people who are now coming out of Grand Central station and using public transport into the city. We are also returning to pre-COVID levels of traffic in the city centre. All those things have combined. If someone is waiting for a magical engineering solution to what is happening in Belfast, they will find that there will not be one, because it is not available. What have we done? We have invested a significant amount of money in Belfast Grand Central station, which has a state-of-the-art rail and bus service. I appeal to people to use it. People should come into Belfast on public transport, enjoy their shopping or business trip, or whatever it may be, and leave again in comfort on our public transport systems. Why add to the stress and tension that are caused by the congestion that you will face if you are in a private vehicle? As I said, I think that people are sometimes waiting for the time that the Minister will be able to announce an answer. I do not have an engineering answer, because it does not exist. The answer is public transport.

1,521 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:41 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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