The Belfast Inner Ring Road, also known as the City Centre Ring and the Belfast Inner Box, is being designed to enhance the city centre by redirecting traffic away from the core city streets. It will, when completed, provide a complete two-way orbital route around the city centre featuring 2 lanes in each direction with right-turn lanes to minimise interruption to journey times. Traffic will therefore be encouraged to "orbit" around the city centre rather than travelling though it.

Note however that Belfast City Council are opposed to the Inner Ring Road (see here). Responsibility for non-strategic roads passes to the councils in Spring 2009 so, depending on how this scheme is classed, the council may or may not be able to pull the plug on it.

Although planned and technically under construction since at least the 1970s, the Inner Ring has been very slow to be built with only short sections like Dunbar Link and Carrick Hill being completed. However it has been included in the 2005 Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan which means that it looks likely to be completed by 2015. The BMAP comments that the existing nature of the road is "disjointed and often expansive" and commits to making it look more "appropriate to the streetscape of a central urban area and does not form a barrier". This probably means making it appear thinner and encouraging more frontal development, even if those buildings do not actually open out onto the road itself.

Almost all of the Inner Ring road will be constructed by converting, and in some cases widening, existing streets, many of which are currently one-way streets. Beginning on Carrick Hill the road will run north and then turn east onto Frederick Street past the Interpoint Centre. It will then cross onto Dunbar Link and head south, swinging east briefly to pass Custom House Square and head south along Oxford Street past the Waterfront Hall. It will then pass onto East Bridge Street, turn west and go along Cromac Street. It will then turn right onto a new road, currently called the Bankmore Link (see link above), which will link it to Bruce Street near the Europa Hotel. It will then turn north over Boyne Bridge, pass straight across Grosvenor Road and along Durham Street as far as Christ Church, where it will turn east along College Square North and finally join Millfield. See the map below.

Other roads, in particular Great Victoria Street and Victoria Street, will revert to two-way traffic flows and see significant reductions in traffic levels. This is intended to assist the commerical life of these areas and make them more attractive to pedestrians. Other roads, such as College Square North, Durham Street and Cromac Street will require widening. Some elements of the plan, especially the College Square North -> Millfield connection, seem very awkward with right-angle bends that will inevitably disrupt the flow of traffic, but on the whole the scheme seems good as it will require very little demolition and thus bring benefits with relatively little upheaval and cost.

Map

Map showing the route of the proposed Belfast Inner Ring Road. [Map based on Google Earth imagery, drawn by Wesley Johnston]