AQW 5766/16-21

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 19/10/2016
Answered On Date: 27/10/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure , following the York Street Interchange announcement on 19 October 2016, to detail his plans to address the daily traffic gridlock at the current York Street junction.

Answer:

To clarify my position, the York Street Interchange Scheme remains one of my priorities given its location at the junction of our busiest roads, the M1/Westlink, M2 and M3.

This scheme will address a major bottleneck on the strategic road network, replacing the existing signalised junction at York Street with direct links between Westlink, M2 and M3, the three busiest roads in the north. It will also separate strategic traffic from local traffic movements via underpasses below the existing road and rail bridges and underneath a new bridge at York Street.

I acknowledge, however, that York Street Interchange was the only scheme changed to “on hold” in the recent update of my Department’s TransportNI Procurement Plan 2016/17. This procurement plan, which lists the tender competitions scheduled to be awarded by TransportNI, is available to the construction industry through the TransportNI procurement portal on the Department’s web site. It is a ‘live’ plan and requires updating on an ongoing basis to ensure that the information is meaningful and current.

As I am sure you are aware, the York Street Interchange scheme had been highly likely to be eligible for a significant EU funding contribution towards construction. I had intended to award the contract for the design phase of York Street Interchange by October 2016. However as result of the funding uncertainty created by the EU referendum result the procurement period has been extended to allow further consideration of funding availability. To reflect this, the status of the York Street Interchange project was changed to “on hold” within the TransportNI Procurement Plan.

The procurement process for the York Street Interchange Scheme had been progressing in parallel with the statutory processes. The Public Inquiry was held in November 2015 and the Inspector’s report has been received by my Department. I intend to make a decision on the status of the scheme and release the Inspectors’ report from the Public Inquiry in the coming weeks.

There is no doubt that the outcome of the EU Referendum has presented considerable challenges for the Executive. However, we are working to address those challenges and this will form part of our considerations in the 2016 Budget process.