Roadworks pause should begin early, say NI traders

Traders have called for a pre-Christmas pause on non-essential roadworks in Belfast to be introduced earlier than planned and extended to all NI towns and cities.

Hospitality Ulster and Retail NI made the joint call during ongoing concerns about heavy rush-hour traffic congestion in the city recent weeks.

The Department for Infrastructure (DFI) already said it will suspend non-essential works on key Belfast routes from 25 November, as it had done in previous years.

But the two trade organisations said they want to see this year's moratorium widened and brought forward "by at least one week" to start in mid-November.

Hospitality Ulster's chief executive Colin Neill claimed Belfast's current rush-hour problems were discouraging people from travelling in to shop, dine and socialise.

"I'd like to see it [the moratorium] earlier because when we keep seeing on the news all of this congestion, it puts people off booking and coming into the city," he said.

"We're seeing footfall drop in the city and it's concerning."

Hospitality Ulster is an umbrella group which lobbies on behalf of hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafes while Retail NI represents independent retailers, wholesalers and suppliers.

Mr Neill told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that the pre-Christmas season was the "make or break period" for many businesses.

"This is the time when people start booking their Christmas dinners and parties," he explained.

"The concern is that people will move to shop in the out-of-town shopping centres and that casual lunch, casual catch-up over coffee or indeed staying on to have an evening meal will be lost."

Two major road infrastructure projects have been exacerbating traffic problems in Belfast in recent weeks - the resurfacing of the Sydenham bypass and the redevelopment of the area around Grand Central Station.

Since the end of September temporary overnight and full weekend closures have been in place on the Sydenham bypass as part of a £3.8m resurfacing scheme.

Grand Central Station, the city's new public transport hub, opened last month at a cost of £340m but work to upgrade the surrounding streets is still ongoing.

Nearby Durham Street has been shut while work takes place to dismantle the Boyne Bridge as part of Translink's vision for the transport hub.

That closure is ongoing and is expected to last for a year.

Last month, the infrastructure minister acknowledged there had been traffic issues resulting from both projects but he urged car drivers to switch to public transport.

But bus and train passengers are not escaping the disruption and frustration either.

On two consecutive evenings last week, Translink warned of delays in excess of 35 minutes on some Belfast bus services due to heavy traffic.

On Friday, it also cancelled a number of rail services were cancelled from Grand Central Station due to "operational reasons".

Hospitality Ulster's chief stressed that his organisation was not complaining about much-needed investment in roads, but did want seasonal protection for its members.

"There just seems to be a combination of lots of roadworks going on in the city at a very important time of year and I appreciate totally the work needs to be done," Mr Neill said.

"We welcome the fact improvements are happening, it's just about timing."

Confirming the pre-Christmas pause, a DfI spokesperson said: "As in previous years there will be an embargo on all non essential work on key routes into the city between end of November and beginning of January with works on the Sydenham bypass due to be paused from Monday 25 November."

But in their joint statement, Hospitality Ulster and Retail NI said: "While we appreciate that the moratorium is being implemented and, as stated previously, support the end goal of the roadworks, part of the moratorium's remit is to limit the damage done to the city centre economy in the run up to Christmas

"We would stress that the shifting of the moratorium's start date back by at least one week and the inclusion of all cities and towns would mean that the city and town centre economies could fully reap the benefits of the season."