Click here to jump straight down to updates for this scheme.

The North Lisburn Feeder Road was completed in March 2006, providing a high-quality single-carriageway link road round the north of the city from the A512 Dunmurry Bypass in the east to the A519 Prince William Road, which forms part of a western bypass of Lisburn. This completed a "West and North" distributor road round the city. At the western end the road crossed over the existing Pond Park Road which was cut in two, while Prince William Road was extended slightly to meet it at a new roundabout. The plan has alwats been to extend Prince William Road northwards to meet Pond Park Road but from 2006 onwards this road was ony partly built, requiring all Pond Park Road traffic to awkwardly cut down Lady Wallace Avenue for the past decade. The situation before and after the construction of the Feeder Road is shown in the map below. The third panel shows the length of unbuilt road (in blue) that would be required to complete the job. This length of road could justifiably be described as the final phase of the North Lisburn Feeder Road.

The photograph below was taken at point X in 2006, just after the road was completed. The second image was taken from Google Streetview and shows roughly the same view in 2012, showing that a lot of development has since happened.

View north from the junction with Lady Wallace Avenue (off frame to right), 22 July 2006. Point X on map above. [Wesley Johnston]

Google StreetView looking north from the junction with Lady Wallace Avenue (off frame to right), in 2012. Point X on map above.

The reason for the delay in completion of the road link is that the road is privately funded to support the adjacent housing developments, and until now the extension was not required. However in 2017 a planning application was submitted to build the extension and is shown below:

The plan is to extend the road north to meet Pond Park Road at a point between the Beanstown Road and Oldpark Road junctions. The north end of the bypassed section of Pond Park Road will be stopped up (as it already is at its south end). This will require the demolition of a derelict property at the corner of Beanstown Road.

Updates

22 Dec 2020: Planning permission for this scheme was finally granted last month, on 13 November 2020 (planning ref LA05/2018/0139/F). That means that the developer can proceed to construction as soon as they wish. In theory, if work was to get underway during 2021 it could be completed and in use by 2022. Whether they do begin work soon will probably hinge on the extent to which the pandemic has affected their operations and finances. With thanks to Mike Nesbitt for flagging up this development to me.

26 Mar 2020: A year has passed and there is no change to this planning application, which has now been out for consultation for two years. DFI advertised the scheme in the press in August 2019 (see here), but the Planning Service web site indicates only 8 responses, all of which are from public bodies who are generally supportive, and none from private individuals. This means it's highly likely that permission will be granted. The closing date for consultations was 17 March 2020 (last week) so we may see more movement on the application this year. The big unknown is the coronavirus-induced recession that is likely to come this year, and the impact this might have on developer-led schemes such as this one. So we may need to wait a little longer than we thought this time last year.

6 Mar 2019: This scheme is moving towards construction. Planning permission was applied for in February 2018 (planning ref LA05/2018/0139/F) but has still not been granted. According to DFI, there was an issue around notifying landowners about the proposed scheme and it has taken additional time to identify all the landowners and ensure they are fully informed. It seems that the project will work by the developer passing ownership of the lands to DFI, DFI then Vesting some additional land, and then construction taking place. This suggests that DFI itself may be going to oversee construction, though it will be paid for by the developer. DFI said in November that the road "could" be completed during 2021, which suggests construction beginning during 2020. With thanks to Paul Givan MLA, Alderman William Leathem and Gavin Bamford for information on this.

22 Jul 2017: With thanks to @darrenni on Twitter for alerting me to the planning application that has gone in to complete the road link. Since it's in the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan it is highly likely to get permission, so I would hope it will be constructed within the next couple of years.