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Where |
An incalculably important route that connects the M1 to the M2 and M3 by skirting round the west side of Belfast city centre. |
|---|---|
Total Length |
3.38km / 2.1 miles |
Opened |
March 1983 |
Cost |
£23m (£48m in 2002 prices) |
Photos |
Lots of pictures - see below. |
See Also |
General area map |
This page is about the Westlink in its original form.
For details of the current Westlink Upgrade, click here.
The Westlink was arguably the single most challenging and ambitious road building scheme in Belfast's history. Although not on the scale of the motorway programme of the 1960s and 1970s, the Westlink involved some of the trickiest engineering ever seen here. For example, the first section from Broadway to Grosvenor Road was constructed on top of the Blackstaff river, while the section from Grosvenor Road to the M2 was constructed in a series of sunken channels through some of the most built-up land in Belfast, and involved demolition on an unprecedented scale.
The map below shows the route of the Westlink as it was in 2005. See further down for a more detailed map of the area prior to construction.
Nevertheless, the Westlink is also probably the most hated road in Belfast. A disastrous attempt to save a few pounds in the 1980s saw three of its five junctions constructed at-grade with the result that traffic ground to a halt within days of opening, and the A12 has generally been a car park at peak times ever since (65,000 vehicles per day in 2004). In the evening rush hour, it can take up to half an hour to travel its full length. A scheme commenced early in 2006 which will see two of these junctions grade-separated and the third one replaced with sliproads. See here for more information.
The Westlink is essentially a remnant of a much grander scheme which was mostly the victim, as so many things were, of the "Troubles" which lasted throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The original plan in 1964 was to construct a 3-lane fully grade-separated motorway right round the city starting at the M1 and going round the west to meet the M2. Then it would cross the Lagan and go through east Belfast via Ormeau Park before re-crossing the Lagan around the Gasworks site and going along Bankmore Street back to the start of the route. Full details are here.
The eastern, northern and southern parts of the scheme was abandoned in 1973 partly because the civil disorder was draining funds, and partly because support in Belfast City Council for the road declined after they saw the negative social experiences with urban motorways in England. It was decided to build the western portion anyway. However, in 1978 money was so short that even this idea was shelved. Instead, the road would be reduced to a 2-lane dual-carriageway. The northern half of the route would be depressed below ground level with two grade-separated junctions, but the rest would be constructed on the level with at-grade junctions. This was a costly mistake. The northern cross-Lagan section of the original plan was constructed in a different form as the M3 motorway in 1995.
The whole route is as follows:
- Begins with traffic lights at York Street and giving access to the M2 and M3.
- Crosses over N orth Queen Street on a bridge without access.
- Enters its first underground segment with a grade-separated juncion with Clifton Street.
- Passes beneath Peter's Hill (lower Shankill) without access.
- Enters its second underground segment with a grade-separated junction with Divis Street (lower Falls).
- Meets Grosvenor Road with a traffic-light controlled at-grade roundabout.
- Meets Roden Street / Mulhouse Road at a set of traffic lights.
- Terminates at the Broadway roundabout which gives local access as well as being the start of the M1 motorway.
Because of the nature of the cutting, the onslips at Clifton Street and Divis Street are ridiculously short with no hard shoulder, so cars frequently have to either come to a halt on the sliproad or else force their way into the traffic on the A12. I have been very nearly driven off the road by a long lorry coming down one of these slips beside me on more than one occasion!
Click here for a much more detailed map of the area dating from prior to the road construction with the route of the Westlink superimposed on it. This illustrates the scale of demolition that was required, although admittedly some of this was derelect due to the civil disorder. To the south, the M1 end of the scheme was built by culverting the Blackstaff River and by taking over part of the railway marshalling yard at Great Victoria Street. The map shows the M1 to the bottom left and the M2 as a dotted line at the top. (The route of the modern M3, opened in 1995, is also shown crossing the river Lagan to the right.)
Timeline
1964 - Government announces Belfast Urban Motorway to encircle the city centre.
1971 - Faltering construction proceeds on the Grosvenor Road to M2 section.
1973 - Plans for all but the western arm of the Urban Motorway are abandoned.
1978 - Western arm of Urban Motorway downgraded to "Westlink" dual-carriageway.
Feb 1981 - Westlink phase 1 opens (from Broadway to Grosvenor Road).
Mar 1983 - Westlink phase 2 opens (from Grosvenor Road to M2).
2002 - Westlink widened to three lanes between Broadway and Grosvenor Road.
2006 - Start of Westlink upgrade (full grade-separation and further widening).
2009 - Scheduled completion of upgrade
The A12 Westlink shortly after opening in 1983 seen looking north from the Grosvenor Road roundabout (bottom). Today it would be difficult to imagine the road with such little traffic. [Photo from the UK Motorway Archive http://www .iht.org/motorway/wlink.htm]
Starting our tour at its north end, this is the terminus of the Westlink. The photographer is on York Street with the M2 and M3 behind. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The view not seen by most Westlink users - the Westlink crosses North Queen Street on this ugly bridge. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
Looking back north from the Clifton Street bridge. The lorries on the left are about to join the Westlink northbound - imagine the forces acting on a vertical retaining wall this high with two lorries on top! This is the start of the "sunken" section of the A12. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The view north from the next bridge, Peter's Hill, which does not have any access onto the A12. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
Looking south from the same bridge, Peter's Hill, towards the next junction at Divis Street. In the 1970s this ar ea was all houses and shops. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The Westlink then encounters the Grosvenor Road roundabout, here seen from the south side. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The Roden Street junction, under the footbridge on which the photographer is standing, is the only normal traffic-light cross road on the A12. Its future looks in doubt as the A12 upgrade scheme is planned. Here seen looking west towards the M1. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The Westlink terminates here, at the Broadway roundabout which is also the terminus of the M1 motorway (to the left of shot here). As you can see, the traffic is awful even now: mid morning on a Saturday. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]
The Broadway roundabout from the air with the Westlink to the top and M1 to the bottom. [Picture from issue 3, (2004), of the Northern Ireland Roads Service magazine "On the move"]