Belfast traffic congestion 'doubled journey times' in Christmas run-up

Car journey times in parts of Belfast more than doubled during peak periods in the run-up to Christmas, according to figures obtained by BBC News NI.

On some occasions fewer than a quarter of Metro bus services arrived on time.

The details are contained in Department for Infrastructure documents, which looked at concerns over traffic congestion in the city.

Motorists have complained of bottlenecks in recent months due to roadworks and the new Grand Central Station public transport hub.

Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd has said he is "committed" to tackling city centre congestion, while Translink said it continually monitors services to minimise issues.

A working group involving Department for Infrastructure officials and other public agencies was set up in November in a bid to tackle the problem.

It was provided with briefing papers, which gave daily figures on the congestion spanning several weeks across November and December.

The figures included journey times during the "pm peak" for some of Belfast's main roads.

On 3 December, the duration for driving northbound on Great Victoria Street was recorded as 35 minutes.

This was more than double the average journey time recorded for the street in November 2023.

A northbound journey on Ormeau Road lasted 54 minutes, whereas the same route in November 2023 averaged 23 minutes.

Travelling westbound on Tates Avenue took 14 minutes - more than three times longer than the previous period.

The briefing papers also looked at the arrival times of Metro bus services.

On 30 November, it was recorded that 37.3% had an "early/on time arrival".

The figure fell to 22.9% during the peak period of 16:00 GMT to 18:30.

And nearly one in 10 services were recorded as arriving more than 15 minutes late during the peak period.

Some services in the south of the city were particularly affected.

On 12 November, 20.1% of Number 9 services (which travel via Lisburn Road) arrived early or on time during the peak period.

Green Party leader Mal O'Hara said the figures showed the "scale of traffic chaos and the impact on bus services".

He said congestion in the city "has been growing as an issue for years" and argued the Stormont executive "has failed to properly fund public transport".

"People will make the choice to get on the bus or train if it's cheap, reliable and gets you to where you need to be on time," he said.

"It is clear that our public transport system failed to provide that in recent months."

The Department for Infrastructure has been approached for comment.

Last month it allowed more taxis in some city centre bus lanes as part of efforts to ease traffic congestion.

It also said it was looking at ways to improve traffic flow, such as working with police to prevent blockages at yellow boxes.

Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd has said he is "committed to bringing forward measures which will help alleviate the traffic congestion in the city centre".

But he said people driving into Belfast city centre should "expect congestion" and encouraged motorists to consider "other options" such as public transport.

Translink chief executive Chris Conway last month apologised to passengers affected by disruption to some bus services.

In response to the latest figures, Translink said it continually monitors and adjusts services to minimise traffic issues.

A spokeswoman said more than 400,000 extra passenger journeys were made between October and December with the opening of Grand Central Station.

"As is the case in many cities in the run-up to Christmas, traffic was very heavy in Belfast," she added.

"Translink continually monitor and adjust services where possible to minimise the impact on customers when services are impacted by congestion, road traffic accidents and weather conditions."