Comment: Brexit '˜only part of York Street story'

Plans for the York Street Interchange scheme were last week put on hold by Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard. Here, roads expert WESLEY JOHNSTON takes a closer look at the Sinn Fein MLA's shock decision ...

York Street is at the core of Northern Ireland’s road network. Our three busiest roads, M2, M3 and Westlink, plus the access to Belfast Harbour, all meet at a series of traffic lights. Approximately 100,000 vehicles per day navigate what is numerically Northern Ireland’s most congested junction.

TransportNI have been working for the past ten years on an ambitious scheme to replace the whole lot with a set of free-flow underpasses and flyovers. This time last year it seemed clear that it was one of the highest priority schemes within TransportNI, going out to tender in spring 2016. It was widely expected that construction would get underway by late 2017.

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Now we hear that the tender process is on hold. What has happened?

Firstly, Brexit. The scheme is on Euroroute E01 and hence qualifies for EU funding of up to 40% of the £165m cost. The UK’s vote to leave the EU means this funding is in jeopardy. Although the Chancellor has agreed to underwrite any EU funds signed before we leave the EU (which will be no earlier than March 2019) it is not yet clear what stage the scheme would have to be at to qualify as “signed”.

Last week the Infrastructure Minister, Sinn Féin’s Chris Hazzard, stated that the next EU funding round begins in early 2018. This is still a year before the earliest date we could leave the EU, but the minister nevertheless believes that it “goes beyond the timeframe set by the chancellor”.

But secondly, the Infrastructure Minister has been very clear since taking office in May that his priorities lie in the North West. His early press releases, even before the referendum, prominently mentioned the A5 and A6, as well as various sustainable transport schemes, but York Street was conspicuous by its absence. It seems likely that the new minister wishes to prioritise funding for the A5 and A6 and to push those schemes ahead of York Street.

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Last week he seemed to confirm this when he said: “Are people suggesting I take money away from the A6 and we allow the build up around Dungiven every morning, just to free up the building of the interchange?”

I don’t think the minister will cancel York Street, but I do think it has been shifted down the queue and will not begin in 2017 as previously hoped. And that Brexit is only part of this story.

• Wesley Johnston is a researcher on the road network and runs the Northern Ireland Roads Site (www.wesleyjohnston.com/roads)