The city was brought to a standstill by heavy traffic in the weeks leading up to Christmas last year
A Belfast retailer has praised Stormont for their work in reducing congestion in the city centre in the lead up to Christmas. Chris Suitor and his family have been trading in the city centre for decades with their tailoring business, Suitor Bros Clothiers and Custom Tailors, based on Arthur Street.
Last year, when Belfast was brought to a standstill during the evening rush hour for weeks leading up to Christmas, Chris said the situation was like “someone threw a hand grenade” at the city. The traffic situation developed from a combination of factors including works surrounding the new Grand Central Station and a major resurfacing scheme of the A2 Sydenham Bypass.
Now, however, Chris has praised the efforts from the Department for Infrastructure and Translink in getting the situation under control. Speaking to Belfast Live this week, he highlighted how extending the moratorium on roadworks leading to the festive season, the reopening of Durham Street, and pilot scheme for late night transport is all playing a part in reducing congestion.
READ MORE: Belfast night czar hopes late night transport usage will more than double ahead of ChristmasREAD MORE: Belfast Durham Street reopens after a year with new Grand Central Station drop-off zones
He explained: “This year has definitely kicked off on a better keel than last year regarding congestion. Obviously Durham Street opening back up again has been huge, the fact the minister has been backing the Keep Belfast Moving campaign is wonderful.
“The moratorium on roadworks came into play two weeks earlier this year, which is excellent. I do think the mood music at the minute is very positive for the city, and I hope we’re going to have a much better Christmas period, particularly with regards to traffic, this year than we did last year.
“We do just need to keep in our mind about our road traffic system, it’s still not where it needs to be, and people do need to plan their journeys. They need to stay out of the yellow boxes, and use public transport where possible.”
Despite saying there is still a lot to be done in improving the city’s public transport services, Chris said retailers have not been “left in the dark” this year.
“I’m always on the case of Translink needing to improve our public network, but I do think the way the minister is approaching this year is very welcoming. Last year, part of our issue was the Department kind of just buried its head in the sand and left retailers hung out to dry,” he said.
“That’s because we didn’t know what was going on, where this year we feel a lot more informed. How that plays out over the next four weeks is open to interpretation, but I do feel a confidence out there, and I feel people are going to come into our town and spend money.”
As for how trading is going in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the retailer said they have noticed an increase in footfall compared to last year. Chris said he believes the reopening of Durham Street and extension of bus lanes is improving consumer confidence, and bringing more people into Belfast.
He said: “We’re finding footfall is slightly up on last year and customers are saying they’re finding it easier to come into the town. They’re also having a little bit more confidence coming into town because of the good PR around Durham Street opening, more bus lanes.
“There’s definitely a buzz around the city at the minute. There’s a couple of issues I’m sure everybody watching the news knows, aas every city has. But I think the overall confidence across traders is good at the minute.”
To improve things more, Chris said our public transport system needs more funding, and he has called for more embracing of Northern Ireland’s business community to heighten investment.
He described the year long pilot scheme for late night transport as a “gamechanger”, and is calling for people to make use of it.
Chris said: “In Northern Ireland, we need to embrace the business community to be able to bring more investment in, which will then hopefully allow us to invest more in our public sector, our health service, eduation system, and our transport. I just think we need to make more money to be able to feed back into the economy.
“We hear many instances of people waiting for buses or trains, and they maybe don’t come or they’re not on time. That does set a bad tone, and I think it needs constant work.
“We need to be constantly reminding Translink to be trying to improve the system, as that’s what instills confidence into people to use the public transport system, which then helps bring more people into Belfast.
“I am very much behind the late night buses and trains, it’s a good news story for Belfast to get this over the line. I think we need to use it or lose it, and I really do hope people get on those buses and trains, so Translink and the Department can see there’s a definite need to keep it on for good.
“I think it’s a gamechanger for the city and we should be happy about that, but we do need to get behind it, back it, and we need to use it.”
Video by Belfast Live videographer Justin Kernoghan.
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