Belfast traffic chaos: International business consultant wonders if gridlock is intended to force people into public transport

Carl Allen's family have run the TA Allen Furniture business on the Sandy Row in Belfast for three generations.

He grew up on the street and remembers it as a thriving business community in the 1980s and 1990s.

But now he believes that failure to manage traffic in the area - and across the rest of the city - is causing mayhem to everyone across Belfast.

"Just going into the city centre is a miserable experience," he told the News Letter.

"I dropped a friend off on Dublin Road last Saturday at 8pm and it's just a nightmare, no matter what day of the week. It is even bad on a Sunday morning."

A key part of the arterial route through Sandy Row has currently been closed to traffic - the Boyne Bridge - while it is demolished to make way for traffic access to the new Grand Central Bus Station.

But Carl notes that the bridge is also a key arterial route through Sandy Row and the closure is only one part of widening traffic chaos.

He believes that reconfigurations of traffic flow at Grosvenor Road, Dublin Road and Hope Street are also factors in the gridlock.

"I don't know if it is actually just part of a wider strategy by the city to force people out of their cars," he said.

"But I've lived in different cities all over the world and I've seen how cities work. You cannot implement a cart before the horse approach."

He says the authorities cannot force people onto public transport without substantially increasing the frequency of bus services and improving the cycle network.

It appears to him that in closing down the Boyne Bridge with zero traffic management measures or consultation, the authorities have just "boarded the area of Sandy Row off".

The loss of footfall in the Sandy Row area since the closure of the bridge is “dramatic” he says.

He says his own family business has been hit, with other businesses saying takings are down a third.

SDLP councillor Gary McKeown told the BBC: "The city just isn't functioning, it is in gridlock".

In October, several fast food businesses said they had given up trying to deliver orders between 4-7pm on weekdays.

A bus passenger who works in Ulster University told the BBC her bus journey home used to take 25 minutes but in the past month has become one or two hours.

Alliance councillor Michael Long said the main problem was a "car-centric" system and greater use of public transport would be "one of the main answers".

The Department For Infrastructure said it is continuing to work with partners to undertake a range of mitigation measures.

It is also appealing to drivers to not block yellow boxes as this exacerbates congestion.

"Consideration of other methods of travel will be key to helping address the current situation,” it said.

“That is why we have been encouraging travellers to avoid the congestion by considering other sustainable and active modes of travel such as public transport, park and ride sites or by walking or cycling."