§ Mr. Fittasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the results of the inquiry into the Belfast transportation strategy will be published.
§ Mr. MasonI have today announced decisions on the results of the review of the Belfast urban area transportation718W strategy. A detailed statement on the results of the review, together with the report of the Inspector, Mr. C. M. Lavery QC, on the public inquiry, has been published today. Copies of the documents are being placed in the Library.
Views were sought at the public inquiry on a range of options; a roads-orientated strategy, one based mainly on public transport, and a mid-course for which a preliminary preference was expressed. The inspector's recommendations which I have broadly accepted favour the mid-course with some scaling down of the road content, but with a higher capacity M1/M2 harbour link.
Other features of the strategy include an increase in the frequency of City bus services, two additional road bridges across the river Lagan and the building of a central rail link joining the Larne line with the rest of the rail network.
The decisions I have now taken will remove the uncertainty there has been about the future of many of Belfast's inner city areas which could have been affected by some of the alternative transportation schemes.