The A2 Sydenham Bypass is Northern Ireland's oldest dual-carriageway, having been completed in 1959. Having looked at the future of Belfast traffic the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan of 2004 recommended that it be widened to three lanes from its start at the M3 to its terminus at the A55 (Knocknagoney). The BMTP also recommended that the existing traffic light controlled T-junction at Dee Street be closed and replaced with a new grade-separated junction close to Victoria Park (see link above). This would provide access to the Harbour Estate and to the Holywood Arches area. This new junction be provided by private developers as part of conditions for planning ap proval in these areas. The design is being progressed by ARUP.

Design

The new road will consist of three lanes in each direction between the M3 and Knocknagoney. Countrybound, the onslip from Bridge End will become the third lane. At the Knocknagoney end, the the rightmost lane will become the turn-right lane for traffic wishing to turn onto the Outer Ring. Citybound the existing three lanes through the Knocknagoney junction will continue along the Sydenham Bypass instead of merging into two at present. Just before the M3 begins, the leftmost lane will become the offslip to Bridge End.

In order to fit the widened road into a smaller space, the new road will have no hard shoulders. The north side of the road will feature a 3.5 metre wide shared cycle and footway, while the south side will feature a 1.8 metre wide verge (ie not a full hard shoulder). This differs from the current arrangement where there is a cycleway on each carriageway. The diagram below (given out to the public at the public consultation in May 2008) shows the current and proposed arrangements:

The widening will require 5 metres of land to be taken from Victoria Park and Belfast City Airport. The gated access directly from the Sydenham Bypass to the park will be sealed off, with maintenance vehicles required to use a new link from the layby at the original City Airport entrance instead. Dee Street bridge will be demolished and replaced by a new, wider structure positioned either to the east or west of the current bridge (so that it can be built before the old one is removed).

The timetable for construction is the period 2013 to 2018, but is dependent not only on the scheme passing statutory processes, but also on the availablity of funding and the readiness of the private developer of Titanic Quarter (since it has to proceed at the same time as the new Connswater junction).

Map

This map was given out to the public at the Public Consultation event in May 2008. It shows the proposals for the new road, including the location of the new grade separated junction (purple arrow).