Belfast Chamber has welcomed news that the Department for Infrastructure will introduce an interim measure that will allow taxis to travel in bus lanes along some routes in Belfast in the run-up to Christmas.
In a letter to business organisations on Tuesday, Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd announced that he is introducing a Temporary Traffic Regulation to help address the major traffic congestion issues Belfast city centre has been experiencing recently.
The new measures mean that, from 6am on Wednesday 18 December, Class A and C taxis will be allowed to use the following bus lanes:
Inbound towards the city centre on:
Outbound away from city centre on:
Reacting to the announcement, Clare Guinness, Belfast Chamber CEO, said: “These temporary measures introduced by the Minister are to be welcomed as they will help address the traffic congestion in the run-up to Christmas – but it is vital that the other solutions under consideration are progressed as soon as possible.
READ MORE: Belfast Chamber and Minister meet to discuss traffic congestion measures before Christmas
“Businesses have suffered significantly from the major increase in traffic in and around Belfast city centre, and Belfast Chamber has led the way in calling on the Minister to intervene, having first voiced our concerns back in October.
“Having held two productive meetings with the Minister in the last week, we are delighted to see this positive step but more must be done in the New Year to support the alleviation of the problem for businesses and for the community.”
Read Sync NI's free online Big Data Belfast autumn magazine here.
