York Street interchange - environmental statement notice of determination and publication, Trunk Road Order and notice of intention to make a Vesting Order

Consultation opened on 25 March 2015. Closing date 19 May 2015.

Summary

DfI Roads has developed proposals to provide a grade-separated junction at York Street that would provide direct links between Westlink and the M2 and M3 motorways and greatly improve access between these roads

The Westlink, M2 and M3 motorways, which are key sections of the Strategic Road Network, are presently connected through a complex arrangement of traffic signals at York Street. This bottleneck presently causes significant congestion and delays for traffic travelling between Westlink and the M2 and M3 motorways at peak times. The junction will come under increased pressure to deal with traffic in the future.

Documents

Consultation description

Environmental statement: notice of determination

The Department hereby gives notice, in accordance with Article 67A(1) and (9) of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 (“the 1993 Order”), that it considers the proposal for the provision of a grade-separated junction at York Street to provide direct links between Westlink and the M2 and M3 motorways a relevant project within the meaning of Article 67(1) of the 1993 Order and falls within Annex I of Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC and Directive No. 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and Council (“the Directive”).

The Department has determined that this proposal should be made subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment in accordance with the Directive.

Environmental statement: notice of publication

The Department hereby gives notice in accordance with Article 67A(3) and (9) of the 1993 Order that it has prepared an Environmental Statement on the effects of the proposed provision of a grade-separated junction at York Street

The aim of the project is to improve conditions for road users by improving safety and reducing and improving the reliability of journey times for vehicular travellers.

In addition to earthworks and drainage, landscaping will be carried out to improve the appearance of the road and lessen the visual impact of the proposed project.

Trunk Road Order

The Trunk Roads T1, T3 AND T7 (York Street Interchange) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015

The Department hereby gives notice in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 8 to the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 that it proposes to make an order under Articles 14(1), 15(1) and 68(1), (3) and (5) of that Order.

The proposed Order will provide that:

  1. 1,177 metres of new and upgraded road described in Part I of the Schedule, become special and trunk road and be part of the Belfast-Bangor Trunk Road T1
  2. 2,373 metres of new and upgraded road described in Part II of the Schedule, become special and trunk road and be part of the Belfast-Ballygawley-Londonderry-Land Frontier Trunk Road T3
  3. 1,718 metres of new and upgraded road described in Part III of the Schedule, become special and trunk road and be part of the Belfast-Coleraine-Londonderry Trunk Road T7
  4. the Order also provides for the stopping-up of certain roads

Notice of intention to make a Vesting Order

The Department proposes to make an order vesting certain lands in the Department under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 and The Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993.

The Department proposes to acquire the lands for the construction of a grade-separated junction at York Street that would provide links between Westlink and the M2 and M3 motorways.

Inspect to Order

All documents and maps relating to the scheme  may be inspected and further information relating to the proposals may be obtained by any person, free of charge, at all reasonable hours at the TransportNI offices:

DfI Roads Headquarters
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB
Eastern Division
Hydebank
4 Hospital Road
Belfast
BT8 8JL.  

Alternatively, an electronic version of the environmental statement (non-technical summary) is available below:

Your Opinion

Any person who wishes to express an opinion on the Environmental Statement or to object to the making of The Trunk Road T1, T3 and T7  (York Street Interchange) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, or the proposed Vesting Order must, on or before, write to:

The Divisional Manager
DfI Roads – Eastern Division
Hydebank
4 Hospital Road
Belfast
BT8 8JL

stating their opinion on the environmental statement and/or the grounds of their objection to the proposed Orders.  The Department will take into consideration any representations made before deciding whether or not to proceed with the project with or without modifications.

Information you provide in your response, including personal information, could be published or disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). For further details on confidentiality and FOIA/EIR please refer to https://ico.org.uk/.

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