With the opening of a new 575 space car park in Belfast City Centre can we remove 575 on street car parking spaces and replace them with bike lanes?

2020 has not been a good year for the McCausland family. Firstly they own Value Cabs, which has been hit hard by COVID, then they open up a new car park just as the city has record low levels of commuters. I am sure all of you working from home really miss having to pay £20 a day to park in Belfast. Still, they have been in business over 100 years so I imagine this too shall pass for them. …

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Cycling – One of life’s simple pleasures…

Normally at this time of the year, cycling fever would be in the air with the Giro d’Italia a recent memory (remember the year it started in Belfast?), and that other famous pharmaceutical warehouse on wheels (sorry, bike race) the Tour de France just about to start. This year it’s all different though, but it hasn’t stopped the Middle-Aged Men In Lycra (MAMILs, I believe the modern terminology is) – ie people like myself – from making the most of …

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Queen’s Quarter superblock – Freeing a city quarter from vehicle traffic and pedestrianising Botanic Avenue…

Following Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon’s announcement of a new Walking and Cycling Champion, to lead the emergency measures needed to immediately increase active travel space and priority, we take a closer look at one aspect of plans: superblocks. The term has been used to describe work to reduce traffic levels within areas of Barcelona, and Bikefast has proposed a superblock-style approach to re-configuring Belfast’s Linen Quarter. Coronavirus has claimed many lives and devastated families, and will continue to do so – in greater …

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Year Zero for the Belfast Cycling Revolution

Coca-Cola Zero has been announced as the headline sponsor for Belfast Bike Hire, due to begin operation this April. Other cities have debated the merits of letting major public health interventions be sponsored by fizzy drinks, but there is a bigger picture for Belfast – sustaining the rise of cycling as an everyday activity. With bicycles now powering 4% of all commuting journeys in Belfast and radical strategies being developed on the back of broad political will, we appear to have the right …

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