Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Look forward to a new bike & pedestrian friendly city..
Hopes for Belfast after virus SDLP bid for better street use
A NEW pedestrianised and bicycle-friendly Belfast could be a positive outcome of the coronavirus emergency, a councillor has said.
Donal Lyons welcomed this week’s announcement of a new “Cycling and Walking Champion” at Stormont’s Department of Infrastructure.
The SDLP member said: “When we do come out the far side of this, however long it is, we can’t return to the status quo. We can successfully reimagine what our city can look like.
“In the short term, we can widen cycle lanes and connect them better.
“I’m not saying it can be done overnight or suggesting we move a line of white paint without considering what impact that might have on the emergency services or on traffic.
“But I am saying we can identify places where we don’t have a negative impact and can provide spaces for cyclists and pedestrians.”
The new Executive Cycling and Walking Champion will oversee extending pavements, pedestrianising streets and introducing pop-up bike lanes.
Infrastructure Minister
Nichola Mallon said she wanted to “identify and create ‘Quiet Streets’ where pedestrians, cyclists have priority and motor vehicles are guests”.
Cllr Lyons noted specific areas that should be pedestrianised, saying: “Hill Street is one that has been talked about for a long time, between the Duke of York and the Dirty Onion.
“That would make sense as it sits in an area of the night time economy which is heavily pedestrianised anyway. It’s unusual that it wasn’t fully pedestrianised in the first place, especially if the idea was to create a type of Temple Bar area there.
“The area in and around Ormeau Avenue and the Ulster Hall, Adelaide Street and Linenhall Street – there is surplus capacity there for movement.
“Why is everyone being tunnelled down Bedford Street? Why aren’t we utilising those successive parallel streets? “I’m sure there are other ways of using Castle Street and Bank Square behind Castle Court.
“We have streets there that are needlessly blocked by built infrastructure – there’s a lane that just ends in a red brick wall, it’s not utilised well.”
Last year a motion calling for the pedestrianisation of Royal Avenue and High Street led to the City Centre Connectivity study, a longterm project involving the council and the Departments for Communities and Infrastructure.
Focusing on ways to create a green, walkable, cyclable city centre, it was due to go out for a 12-week public consultation this autumn.
Cllr Lyons said: “There’s a recognition that in terms of public transport there will be a reluctance from people to wedge themselves onto buses and trains the way they have previously.
“And there’s the fundamental recognition our traffic capacity has passed what is possible or desirable.
“So I think there is a long overdue recognition that a city centre with cars is not the right approach. The idea we trundle in and out 8am to 9am and 5pm to 6pm isn’t sustainable anymore.”