EVERYTHING about Castle Place in Belfast city centre is a mess.
Standing there this week highlighted for me just how big a miss it was when the Department for Infrastructure reopened the once blissfully people-only area to vehicles.
The busy junction, connecting Royal Avenue to Donegall Place and High Street, could and should have been so much better.
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I know many were angry when they were robbed of the pedestrian zone put in place when Primark burned down. And rightly so – it was a massive back step.
But this half-baked effort to make it more pedestrian friendly is a hodgepodge of ideas that doesn’t work.
Hundreds if not thousands of people cross the roads here every day and everything about it is confusing.
There are literally people going every direction, weaving in and out of traffic that shouldn’t be there and trying to make the lights in one of Belfast’s major shopping streets before a stream of big pink buses hold them up or a car whizzes past.
In all my time in the city centre I think I’ve seen one bike use the cycle lane – though I’d happily be proved wrong on that.
But it’s got no real links to any of the other roads that connect here, even if there are plans to add them in future.
Why can’t DfI just agree to make it a people, bike and wheelchair user friendly area with pavements that are all the same level and safe for people with disabilities or children, instead of ramming through the vehicles and buses that pass through?
All of Royal Avenue, Castle Place, Donegall Place and High Street should be completely pedestrianised – it would work so much better.
And has anyone even thought about how difficult this junction must be for people with mobility or sight issues with its mad mix of plastic poles, pavements, traffic lights, a cycle lane and roads?
Did they even do an equality assessment on what the roads dinosaurs have left us with instead of the well-used parklet we used to have there? I’ll have to check.
It’s been said more than once that Northern Ireland missed a huge
opportunity to put active travel at the heart of towns and cities when Paris and other cities around the world were busy making their central areas places that were attractive and safe for people to be.
To be honest, I think there’s too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to the push for active travel in NI’s capital city.
You have DfI, Translink, and the City Council might get a say but they don’t get the last word. I would totally support the council having control over its own streets and what goes on them. They certainly couldn’t do any worse than what we have now.
A Google map I took of Belfast city centre with the traffic filter suggests the streets I am talking about here are devoid of it but we know that simply isn’t the case.
Why can’t buses just go around the outside of this area like vehicles are expected to? Let’s get rid of the onstreet parking in the area except for a few for people with disabilities, move the buses around the outside with stops for people to get off at.
Let’s push for level pavements in all pedestrian areas. Belfast’s main streets could be so vibrant.
Imagine this area free of traffic, where people can cross without worries. That’s a city centre we could all be proud of – and one with a lot less air pollution.
Park strife has to stop now
WE need to talk about parking in cycle lanes. Cyclists already struggling with the lack of safe routes in Belfast are growing increasingly frustrated that even those carved out for them are constantly jammed by parked vehicles.
And they are getting more and more angry at the apparent lack of action from authorities.
Activist Dominic Bryan has been highlighting the numbers of vehicles parked in his way as he uses the city centre’s supposed bike lanes to make his way to work.
He told me: “I think things are getting worse. The inactivity from the Department of Infrastructure is extraordinary.
“There is a particular issue on that road behind the old cinema.” DfI said anyone who parks their van or car in these lanes can be fined but I have been unable to find out how many such fines they have issued thus far.
A spokesperson said: “The Traffic Management (NI) Order 2005 gives the department the power to issue Penalty Charge Notices when a vehicle is detected parked on a legislated Mandatory Cycle Lane.
“These are cycle lanes which are part of the carriageway (road) and are identified by a solid white line or by a raised traffic island.
“Advisory Cycle Lanes, which are identified by a broken white line, cycle tracks on footways or those separate from the carriageway, are not generally enforceable by a Traffic Attendant unless there are parking restrictions marked on the carriageway, for example yellow lines, as these would also apply to the cycle lane, track or footway.”
They also said the police have a role to play as it is “an offence for vehicles to park in a way that causes obstruction or danger to other road users, including obstruction of footways and cycle tracks”.
But the PSNI told us since parking infringements are “decriminalised” it’s up to DfI contractors to act.
A spokesperson said: “Cyclists are a vulnerable road user group and as such considerable roadworks have been completed and continue to be developed to provide safe Cycle Lanes separating them from vehicular traffic.
“Vehicles parking on Cycle Lanes is an offence but like so many parking infringements, it is decriminalised. In other words, its enforcement is the responsibility of the Department for Infrastructure and their contracted Parking Attendants.
“The Department for Infrastructure takes responsibility for the enforcement of most parking restrictions. On-the-ground enforcement is provided by DfI’s contractor, currently NSL Services Group, who employ the traffic attendants.”
Next time you see someone parked in a bike lane, give their parking enforcement enquiries line a call on 028 9054 0400.
You could also email a pic to Roads.Parking@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk.
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