Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has said proposals to expand pedestrianisation in Belfast city centre will be put out for public consultation in the coming weeks. The commitment was announced after traffic restrictions and high footfall during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. It is linked to work on a new transport plan for the Belfast area.
The Department for Infrastructure said the new plan is being prepared, with the intended consultation on city-centre pedestrianisation forming part of the minister’s announcement. No final expansion has been confirmed. The next stated step is a consultation on proposals, allowing the public to respond once the material is brought forward.
The announcement follows a period in which the city centre experienced traffic restrictions during the Fleadh and high levels of activity. DfI has connected that experience with the minister’s commitment to examine wider pedestrianisation proposals. However, the department has not presented the forthcoming consultation as the implementation of a decided scheme. It concerns proposals that are still to be consulted on.
Pedestrianisation would be considered in the context of the developing Belfast-area transport plan. The plan itself is being prepared, while the consultation is intended for the coming weeks. The department’s statement establishes the timing as an intention rather than a published consultation date. Details of the proposals will be subject to the consultation process when it opens.
The minister’s commitment places the issue of city-centre streets within the wider transport planning work for Belfast. The consultation will focus on possible expansion of pedestrianisation rather than merely maintaining the restrictions used for the Fleadh. People with an interest in city-centre access and movement will have an opportunity to consider the proposals when the department brings them forward.
DfI’s announcement is a policy commitment at an early stage. It signals a forthcoming consultation and a transport plan in development, but does not settle the final extent or form of any pedestrianisation expansion. The department has said it expects to consult in the coming weeks, following the recent Fleadh-related restrictions and elevated city-centre footfall.