Status
|
Construction scheme
(future) |
Where
|
To widen
the A55 at Knock from 2-lane to 4-lane
standard. |
Total
Length
|
1.3 km / 0.8 miles |
Dates
|
Included
in Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan in
January 2005
Statutory
procedures commenced early 2006
First
public consultation June 2006
Selected
construction option published 15 May 2007
Environmental
Statement released / information day held
- Nov 2009
Public
Inquiry - 8 Nov 2010 @ 10.30am in Park
Avenue Hotel, Belfast
Inspector's
Report and Departmental Statement
published 19 Sep 2012
Construction
unlikely before 2015 at earliest (as of
Sep 2012).
(Changed
from "construction by 2013" as of April
2008).
Works
to take "up to 18 months" (as of Nov 2009)
|
Cost
|
£12-16m as of
April 2010
(changed from
£9.7m)
|
Photos
|
See below |
See Also
|
General
area map
Detailed
map of proposals - DRD, correct as
of Sep 2012
Roads
Service leaflet on the scheme
A55 Outer Ring
on this site
A55 Monagh
Bypass on this site
|
The A55 is a patchwork ring road running from the
Antrim Road in north Belfast and around the west,
south and east of the city to the A2 Sydenham
Bypass. It is partly made up of existing streets,
and partly purpose-built roads. Although most of
the western part is single-carriageway, the A55 in
east Belfast is entirely 4-lane except for a short
stretch at Knock where it is constricted by
existing housing and a steep hill. This area is
well known for being ambiguous to drivers - the
road is about 1.5 lanes wide on each side so it is
unclear whether it is allowable to drive
side-by-side here. This stretch currently carries
approximately 40,000 vehicles per day.
This scheme will see the route widened to 4-lane
single-carriageway standard, provide right-turn
pockets and widened pavements and cycleways.
Originally the scope of the project was to have
been the 700 metre stretch between Kings Road and
Sandown Road. However, when the option chosen was
published in May 2007, the scope of the scheme had
been extended further south to Glen Road, a total
of 1.3 km. This new stretch contains at least two
right turns where turning vehicles currently block
the overtaking lane. This extension has raised the
estimated cost from about £7m to almost
£10m.
All the widening will take place on the country
side. Roads Service have purchased all the
properties along this side over the past 20 years
and have either demolished or rented them. So
there should be few compulsory purchases of land,
and none of buildings.
Updates
19 Sep 2012: Almost two years after the
Public Inquiry, the Inspector's
Report and the Departmental
Statement (Roads Service's response) have
finally been published, along with a detailed
map of the scheme (despite the Minister's
suggestion in April that they would be released
last Spring - see previous update). One reason for
the delay might be that Roads Service don't come
out looking all that great.
Although the Inspector ruled that the scheme is
needed and justified, and recommended that it
proceed, he made a number of criticisms. In
particular, he was very critical of the public
consultation exercise, saying "much of the
consultation undertaken for this scheme has been
ineffective [suggesting] that sufficient effort
was not given at an early stage to ensuring that
all those residents who could be affected by the
scheme were alerted to the details of the
proposals", and that some of the material
produced "lacks sufficient detail to enable lay
persons to understand and accept the results".
The Inspector also judged that some of the traffic
data used was "flawed" and, as a result, the
Environmental Statement "would not appear to
meet the provisions of Articles 67A and 130 of
the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993",
and recommended that a new one be produced. In
terms of design, he recommended a wider hard
shoulder on the north side to allow safer access
to driveways, and an assessment of further
improvements to the Newtownards Road and King's
Road junctions on the A55 to discourage
"rat-running" through roads like Cherryvalley. He
also recommended two link roads to allow
right-turning traffic to use the Shandon Park
junction rather than uncontrolled 'Give Way'
junctions - called the Ascot Park Link and
Kingsden Link. Finally, he recommended that "future
road schemes should be progressed by working
more closely in partnership with the community".
Roads Service today published their Departmental
Statement. In it they explain that, in response to
the criticism of their traffic data, they have
constructed a more detailed traffic model. This
indicated that the scheme would produce less
impact in some key areas (air pollution and
noise/vibration) than the Environmental Statement
assumed. As it is their judgement that the flawed
traffic data actually resulted in exaggerated
impacts, they do not believe it is necessary to
publish a new Environmental Statement. Roads
Service accept the recommendations for a wider
area on the north side, and the construction of
Ascot Park Link and Kingsden link (visible on the
map).
As for improvements to the Newtownards Road and
King's Road junctions on the A55, Roads Service
explain that they feel no further improvements are
possible without adding flyovers. Finally, while
DRD state that they accept the criticism about
lack of communication, they go on to note that
they are "content that Roads Service and its
consultants carried out proportionate effort
consultation on this project", which is
rather ambiguous.
From a timescale point of view, the most telling
thing is that the DRD has decided not to publish
the Vesting Order (needed to acquire the land
required) just now, due to "budgetary
constraints". As land acquisition can take some
months after the publication of a Vesting Order,
the only reason they would not want to publish one
is if there was no prospect of proceeding to
construction in the foreseeable future. Given that
this scheme has been proposed in some form for the
past 43 years, this does not change much. However,
the real reason is that schemes like the A5, A8
and A2 Greenisland are using all the available
budget for the next 4 years.
6 April 2012:
The Minister was asked for an update on this
scheme two weeks ago in an Assembly Written
Answer. He indicated that Roads Service has
now had the Inspector's
Report (ie the independent inspector's
recommendations after the Public Inquiry) for over
a year. He explains the delay by noting that "The report
recommended that further detailed consideration
be given to some engineering issues, however,
this involved traffic surveys which could only
be carried out during autumn 2011. Analysis of
the information is now nearing completion."
He went on to say that the publication schedule is
unchanged from last summer, ie that the
Inspector's Report and Departmental Statement will
be published "in spring 2012". That seems to mean
any time in the next 8 weeks.
23 July 2011: The Public Inquiry
did take place on 8 November 2010, and Roads
Service are now saying on their web site that the
Inspector's Report (ie, the
outcome of the Inquiry) and the Departmental
Statement (ie how Roads Service plan to
address the recommendations made in the
Inspector's Report) will be published "early in
2012". These will both be automatically sent to
anyone who objected to the proposals or otherwise
appeared at the Inquiry.
11 September 2010: Roads Service
have announced
that the long-awaited Public Inquiry into this
scheme will begin at 10.30am on 8 November 2010 at
the Park Avenue Hotel, 158 Holywood Road, Belfast.
The Inspector will be Professor
A E Long, former Dean of the Faculty of
Engineering at Queen's University. The Public
Inquiry will not only look at the scheme itself,
but also the Environmental Impact statement, the
compulsory purchase order (to get the land needed)
and proposals to modify some of the side roads
that join the Outer Ring here. The relevant
documents can
be accessed here. I would encourage all
those with an interest to turn up, as the Public
Inquiry is a key democratic event for the public
to get their views across.
21 April 2010: Roads Service
have updated the costs
on their web site. This is now giving a cost of
£12m to £16m for this scheme, which is
higher than the £9.7m being quoted until now
(and, incidentally, still being quoted on a different
page on the same site).
1 March 2010: The Regional
Development Minister today announced
that a public inquiry into these proposals will be
convened in autumn 2010. This is not really
surprising, as this scheme affects so many
residents nearby that it was bound to be
controversial. In the event, over 100 objections
have been received. Roads Service have already
conducted an in-depth analysis of a number of
proposals made by a local residents group, most of
which Roads Service reject. This document, along
with several others dealing with issues of access
off the A55, are now available online here.
The public inquiry will be held this coming
autumn, the actual start date being announced
closer to the time.
22 November 2009: Roads Service
published the Environmental Statement on 11th Nov
(summary, including maps of the design, accessible
here). The design is shows a widening to
4-lane single-carriageway standard, with all the
widening on the eastern (out of town) side. There
will be a central hatched area to allow right-turn
lanes. There will be a reduction in local
accesses, notably Ascot Park which will be
accessible via a new link road connecting it to
Shandon Park. The houses lining the western side
will still open directly onto the Outer Ring,
however, but will be given better sight lines by a
widened pavement and cycle lane. Public
information days were held on 18 and 19 November,
but as these were only publicised on the Roads
Service web site a day or so beforehand, there was
no opportunity to let site visitors know.
Construction still seems a long way off: financial
uncertainties mean Roads Service is only able to
say that completion is due "between 2013 and
2018".
2 November 2009: In their
report to Belfast City Council, Roads
Service said that the publication of the
Environmental Statement, Notice of Intention to
make a Direction Order and Notice of Intention to
make a Vesting Order are due to be published "for
public comment towards the end of 2009", so
hopefully within the next couple of months. The
press release notes that this may be followed by a
public inquiry, an outcome which seems very
likely. Construction remains on the long finger.
6 July 2009: In their
report to Castlereagh Borough Council at the
end of June 2009, Roads Service said that they
were continuing to work on the design and
environmental statement for the scheme, and
confirmed what they said last December which is
that these, plus the direction order and vesting
order, are due to be published "in 2009". However,
they also confirmed that commencement of this
project remains on the long finger, with
construction anticipated between 2013/14 and
2017/18.
16 December 2008: Last month,
Roads Service issued
a leaflet outlining the current position on
this scheme. It doesn't really say anything new,
but provides a useful summary of the scheme. It
does say that the design, environmental statement,
direction order and vesting order are to be
published "in 2009" at which point there will be
another formal public consultation.
5 November 2008: According to the
report given to Castlereagh Borough Council
last week, the timescale for construction of the
scheme has slipped further. It states that "The
Investment
Delivery Plan for Roads, which was published
earlier this year, identified this scheme for
delivery
during the period 2013/14 to 2017/18", ie
within 5-10 years. This statement, however, is not
true. Page 9 of the 2008 Investment
Delivery Plan For Roads clearly includes
this scheme in a list titled "Preparation Pool"
below a statement saying "The preparation pool
contains schemes that are expected to start
within the next five years subject to
satisfactory completion of the necessary
statutory procedures and the level of funding
available at that time". The scheme is also
included in a table on page 21 of the document,
but no timescale is given in this table. It is
unclear why the scheme has been delayed further,
or why the report gave this inaccurate statement
to Castlereagh Borough Council. However, the delay
is likely a result of limited finance. Since a
delay in this scheme will not cause major traffic
problems, it is understandable that it is is one
of those that will slip.
28 April 2008: We have been
expecting work on this scheme to commence in the
period 2008/09. However, the strategy document "Investment
Delivery Strategy for Roads" in April 2008
gave a more vague timescale of "within the next
five years". The fact that a number of other
schemes have more definite dates within this
timescale implies that the commencement date for
this scheme is more uncertain than previously
believed.
Original Options
My attendance at the public consultation on 7-8
June 2006 revealed that the Roads Service were
attempting to choose from three options:
Option 1 -
Single carriageway with 4 lanes - cost
£4.5m
This option would see the
road widened slightly on the out-of-town side to
accommodate 4 lanes of traffic, instead of the
existing 2, between King's Road and Sandown Road.
It would also see the pavement on the city side
widened slightly to accommodate a cycle lane. This
option is cheapest, but would not eliminate the
problem of vehicles turning right blocking traffic
in the central lanes. The map of this option
is no longer available online.
Option 2 -
Single carriageway with 4 lanes and right-turn
pockets - cost £7.0m
This option is the same as
above, except that the road would be widened even
further on the country-side to accommodate a
hatched area between the two sets of lanes. Unlike
the above option, this would extend further, from
King's Road to the start of the existing
dual-carriageway. This area would incorporate
right-turn pockets for vehicles wishing to turn
off. Apparently the wider pavement on the
city-side would also improve safety for those
whose driveways come out directly onto the Outer
Ring here.
Option 3 -
Dual-carriageway with new local access roads -
cost £10.5m
This plan was being
presented as "this is what we could do" rather
than the one that is being pushed. It would see
the road widened considerably on the out-of-town
side and shifted eastwards. The road would become
a dual-carriageway with traffic lights at Sandown
Road, and a new set of traffic lights at
Cherryvalley. Under this scheme, the road giving
direct access into Richill would be closed -
residents would use the northern access onto
Sandown Road instead. All houses facing onto the
Outer Ring on the city-side as well as Knockcastle
Park would be served by a new access road running
parallel to the dual-carriageway joining the Outer
Ring at two locations. On the south side, the
direct access to Ascot Park would be closed: two
houses on Shandon Park would be demolished to give
an alternative access here. The Roads Service
apparently already owns these houses. Option C
would also see the crest of the hill south of
Shandon Park lowered by a couple of metres. This
is not possible under option B as the access road
to Ascot Park is here.
The feeling that I got at the meeting was that
residents and commuters alike all favoured options
B or C. Those living on the city-side prefered
option C as it made accessing their houses safer
and easier. Those living on the south prefered
option B, although residents of Ascot Park seemed
to strongly favour the idea of a new access road
into their estate. Roads Service explained that
this component of option C could be incorporated
into option B. Generally speaking, and unlike many
other schemes, there seems little acrimony from
residents who are generally supportive of the
scheme.
One of the plans also included a new junction on
the Outer Ring just north of Cherryvalley. When I
asked what it was they replied it was for the eWay
to Dundonald - more evidence that this scheme is
being taken seriously (the eWay is a proposed
dedicated bus route along the old railway line).
In the end, Roads Service have gone with Option
2, but extended it further south to Glen Road.
Whether or not the proposed access road to Ascot
Park will be built is unclear.
Map

This map of the eastern part of the A55 as it was
in 2005 shows the 2-lane single-carriageway
section at Knock.
Photos

The two-lane section of
the A55 at Knock, here seen looking north from
near Kensington Road (north of Shandon Park) in
July 2006. Whichever scheme is chosen, it will
involve widening the road on the right side here.
[Photo by Wesley Johnston]

The
existing four-lane single-carriageway section of
the A55 looking north from Knockmount Park in July
2006. The dip ahead is the traffic light junction
with Sandown Road. Under options B and C, the road
would be widened here. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
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