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 4698595

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I recall the Question Time when the Member asked me that question. It has been constantly under review, because one of our concerns is whether there is enough space on the footpaths at that junction for the number of pedestrians who gather there to cross the road. We were concerned that there could have been an accident. Even if a vehicle is turning slowly round that junction, if it hits a pedestrian, the pedestrian would come off worse. Yes, it is under review, and we will keep it under review to ensure that the right decision is in place at that time. At this moment in time, we are satisfied that the right decision is to keep that junction closed, but, as I say, we will keep that under review. If we were planning a city centre for one group of users, it would be easy. If we were planning the city centre for cars or other vehicles, it would be very easy. If we were planning it for pedestrians only, it would be very easy. If we were planning if for cyclists or public transport only, it would be very easy. The fact of the matter is that we have a city centre that has multifunctional use by multiple groups of people. Pedestrians, motorists, cyclists and others use that shared space, and we have to plan for the safety of them all.

When you ask about closures, do you mean roadworks?

All major roadworks have been suspended since 25 November. There may have been issues as a result of Storm Darragh on Saturday that affected a number of the roads and routes. I have no information to suggest that, but we are three weeks away from Christmas. There is always significant traffic volume in and around Belfast in the run-up to Christmas, because people want to come into the city centre to do their Christmas shopping and so on. I fully accept that the closure of Durham Street adds to the traffic congestion in the city centre and that that is a new element to the equation, but the message remains the same. Thousands upon thousands of people come into the city centre by public transport daily. People may have to start their journey in their car and then park at a park-and-ride or at a train station, but, if they complete their journey into the city centre by public transport and start their journey back out of the city centre by public transport, journeys will be much more comfortable for everyone.

The Member will be aware that I have already ring-fenced significant investment in the Coleraine to Derry line as part of my commitment to addressing regional imbalance. Will it be for Christmas? No. The consultation that I have do means that the legislation permitting taxis to use bus lanes will not be in place for Christmas. It will be after Christmas, and it will be a pilot scheme. We are putting in place a pilot scheme to learn the impact that taxis have in and out of bus lanes. As the Member reminded me, it is not a universally popular decision, but there are a number of factors involved. Taxis are a form of public transport, and the people who drive them rely on doing so for their employment. Taxi drivers in particular are having a difficult time at this time plying their trade around the city centre as a result of the traffic congestion. In Dublin, for instance, taxis use the bus routes, and buses and taxis appear to cohabit. As I said, we will run a pilot scheme, and we will see what comes out of it.

The BBC headline is unfair to that official, who conducted a 50-minute interview with Mr Nolan this morning and went through in great detail the work that he and my Department are doing regarding Belfast city centre. In fairness to the official, he has led on the issue and given it a lot of his time and dedication. The BBC took one sentence out of a 50-minute interview and made it the headline. There is a responsibility on the media to be fair in such matters and for them to use their organisations to spread an informed message. The official said in broad terms that there are a number of elements to what we can do. He talked about using public transport, about varying the times at which people leave for home and, yes, about working from home. Working from home one day a week or three days a week — whatever suits the employee and the business — is a matter between the employee and the business. We have to use imaginative approaches, however, and working from home is not imaginative any more; it has been going on for three or four years now. We have to use all approaches to alleviate traffic congestion in Belfast city centre. As I have said repeatedly, there is no major engineering solution available. If we are waiting for the Minister or the Department to come forward with a major engineering solution, we will be waiting for a very long time. Let us look at it in a new and constructive way and all play our part, including the media.

We will keep that under review, but the works need to be carried out over a certain period of time. We have a contractor in place who is contracted to carry out the work over a period of time. They will have their supply lines in place and teams of workers lined up etc for the agreed dates. Intervening now could be at substantial cost to the public purse, but we will keep those matters under review.

The Member has raised that issue with me a number of times and in correspondence. Translink is looking into how we improve the situation for the commuters to whom you refer. I talked about the perfect storm of accidents, broken traffic lights, bad weather etc. There is another part of that perfect storm: the under-resourcing of our public services. Our public transport system is under-resourced. We can supply only so many carriages and so many buses. We are trying to work our way through all of those things and ensure that the public has a comfortable experience when using public transport. For the record, I am saying that public transport is part of the answer. There are other options, including varying your route, varying the time that you leave and using public transport. You do not have to use public transport every day: using it even one day a week would make a significant difference. Again, I appeal to the minority of drivers who block yellow box junctions in the city centre to stop doing it. We have spoken to the PSNI about the matter, and it will take an interest in cars and vehicles that block the yellow box junctions.

As I said, we need to plan our city for all users. The experience across Europe and elsewhere is that our cities will become more congested if we continue to plan them solely on the role of the private car. We all understand why the private car has grown in popularity over the past number of decades, but we cannot continue in that direction. The decision that was taken a number of years ago to increase the bus lanes and cycle lanes on the Dublin Road was right. We have put a bus lane in to allow buses to bring more people into the city centre in a more effective, more efficient and more environmentally friendly manner. That was the right decision. No matter what way you look at it or what routes you put in place, we cannot squeeze any more cars into Belfast city centre. It will not work.

That goes back to the challenge to us all. People attending medical appointments in particular will want to use their private car until they get into the hospital, which is fully understandable. That puts the challenge to the rest of us: if we can use public transport or park-and-ride, we should collectively do that for the benefit of everyone who travels into the city. As I asked earlier, is driving into Belfast city centre and parking your car there all day the best thing to do? Why not park at Sprucefield or one of the other park-and-rides and get the bus in, leaving the space on the road open to others, such as those attending medical appointments, who have to use their private vehicle?

My Department is not guilty of any planning breaches.

At the risk of sparking another debate about figures and who recognises which figures, I caution against judging how we spend on public transport by comparing it with England, Scotland and Wales. It is not a simple read-across, so I caution against that. I continue to support public transport and keeping it public. I will continue to work with Translink and my Executive colleagues to ensure that we put as much money as possible into subsidising public transport. It is worth noting that, despite the pressures on my budget, I retained free public transport for the over-60s. Tens of thousands of people benefit from that decision alone.

I asked exactly the same question on Friday: why did it take until 11.00 am to repair those lights? Information on why that was has been made public, but I will raise the issue with the strategic group. If elements of our infrastructure, such as old traffic lights, could break down, let us ensure that we have the spare parts accessible and ready to install as quickly as possible.

1,617 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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