The Department for Infrastructure has been heavily criticised by South Belfast DUP MLA Edwin Poots after it was revealed it only submitted a traffic management plan after work on the Boyne Bridge demolition had started.
Infrastructure minister John O’Dowd has come under pressure in recent weeks to tackle traffic congestion in Belfast city centre, with many main routes gridlocked at rush hours in the lead up to Christmas.
Some of the blame for the increased congestion has centred around the closure of Durham Street and the demolition of the Boyne Bridge.
The Stormont department only submitted a traffic modelling plan to comply with a planning condition after work had started on the bridge, and said in a letter last week that the plan had been “robust”.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Tuesday, former DUP leader Mr Poots said the traffic in Belfast city centre “has never been witnessed before” and described DfI’s handling of the issue as “ludicrous and beyond belief”.
He said: “Over the course of the last number of weeks we discovered there was an article in the planning condition which said there had to be a robust traffic modelling scheme to ensure that that wasn’t the case.
“Lo and behold last week DfI have indicated that they have now a robust modelling plan and therefore work can continue because the planning condition has been met.
“What we have here is a plan that came in after the work had started, so to all intents and purposes it would appear this plan was submitted beyond the time whenever the bridge was closed.
“We now have this letter from DfI saying the plan is good and the plan stands up to scrutiny and all of that there.
“But the reality is something different. The roads are so congested now that the public transport us delayed, people are telling me they are waiting for half an hour on buses and they are not coming.
“The police are indicating that they can’t get to calls. Carers are saying they can’t get to their calls on time. People are saying they can’t get to their hospital appointments on time.
“So we have this robust plan, but in the real world people are saying the emperor has no clothes on this one. The plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on whenever you actually see the reality.”
A spokesperson for the department did not address Mr Poots’ criticism directly, but said it had complied with all conditions of the planning application for the new station.
“The application for a new integrated public transport interchange – the Transport Hub, now known as Grand Central Station, was granted planning permission on 29 March 2019.
“The permission is subject to a range of conditions controlling the phased construction and operation of the development. Applications to discharge conditions are being processed by the Department in line with due process.”
