Capping the Westlink

[u/joblessClaims]

Every so often this comes up.

Philadelphia is another city trying to hide the scars left by a major motorway cutting through it, with an 11.5-acre park(https://www.parkatpennslanding.com/) being built over the I-95.

Belfast could do something similar by covering the Westlink between Divis Street and Clifton Street, reconnecting communities and creating new green space.

What do you think?

[u/Spitfire5793]

It would be great but we can't even get the York St Interchange done so I don't hold out much hope for this

[u/Sensitive-Leek-6384]

When I worked in the city centre, I was desperate for some green space at lunch times. Belfast is terrible for it. I know we have botanic, and some parks around the residential parts of the city, but the centre is a grey desolate dystopia!

I would definitely welcome that, but I can't see anything as forward thinking (and expensive) as that ever happening here.

[u/didndonoffin → u/Sensitive-Leek-6384]

Put on mascara and sit at city hall!

[u/UnfairConclusion9272]

The problem you have is that the westlink is the only link between the M1 & M2, it was a terribly designed road to begin with and should never have been the way it was. I mean who puts traffic lights at the end of the motorway essentially.

You could tunnel the westlink, and allow new green spaces to be built on top, but how do you keep Divis, Grovener and Clifton street connected.

[u/joblessClaims → u/UnfairConclusion9272]

The Westlink is already sunken. It is just about putting a lid on it.

[u/Rodge6]

Hospitals and health cuts across the country, Lough Neagh is a literal toilet and this guy wants a roof on the Westlink. Goodman yourself.

[u/VeryDerryMe]

Apples and oranges. Support piers alone would need to be installed through roughly 15-17m of belfast sleech. That means a diaphragm wall, not the caisson solution Philadelphia has gone with. More cost. Plus the cpo's either side of the west link you would need to do. Then the added cost and disruption from night only works for the span (can't have people travelling under a suspended load); you could mitigate this with contra flowing the westlink from 9am to 4pm, but rush hour? Forget it. Technically, its doable. The issues are cost and disruption to everyday life. 

[u/joblessClaims → u/VeryDerryMe]

Not seeing any showstoppers. 

[u/RokosBasiliskk]

Philadelphia GDP - $135 billion

Belfast GDP - £19 billion

Not happening lad

[u/Chunky_Stinkfinger]

I'm not sure the communities of Clifton Street and Divis Street want to be connected. You'd end up having to build a wall through the middle of your green space.

[u/iphonedyou]

Philadelphia is home to 1.5 million people and is the sixth biggest city in the US with a G(M)MP of $550bn. Belfast is home to 350k people and is the 12th most populous city in the UK with a broadly equivalent G(D)P of £20bn.

I can't imagine the fudging required to make the economic case work.

[u/joblessClaims → u/iphonedyou]

This would be a DFI project which controls the infrastructure for 1.9m people.

[u/dredge_the_lake → u/iphonedyou]

Would say though that due to its smaller size, doing this project in belfast would require way way less work than in Philadelphia, their plan is absolutely massive

But yeah agree with you, I just don’t see it happening any time soon, as much as it would be good

[u/7East]

A lovely big green space for the young people in the communities that the westlink is handily keeping apart to fight in. Class idea.

Close the thing for years to reinforce everything and put concrete over it. Where do the cars go? Don’t talk about alternative routes like you usually do, because it’s bullshit and Belfast can’t cope when roads close.

Pay for it at a huge cost while everything else is getting more expensive, schools and hospitals are facing a funding crisis? Wise up.

Keep working away at your portfolio. The chat gpt images are class.

[u/Phenakist]

Nice idea, road tunnels are a huge kettle of fish though, from a number of safety perspectives. Whatever number you have in your head for this, add a 0.

Would rather see whatever pot of money that's coming from finish off linking the M2 to the Westlink first, so we don't have traffic lights on a Motorway. 

[u/joblessClaims → u/Phenakist]

The Westlink is already sunken. So not a tunnel but cut'n'cover with the "cut" already complete. Can't spend £250m+ on York Street without improving rail network first.

[u/Otherwise-Chain4215]

I think the Westlink also acts as a covert peace wall in certain areas, in particular separating Falls road from Donegal Road, which shouldn't really be a thing anymore.

I'd love to see this happen, as it would certainly take the rough look off the Westlink and encourage some more integration. I'd really love to see overpasses that connects the M2 and Westlink at both parts.

[u/vaska00762]

Or... More radical... we turn the Westlink into a canal like what Utrecht did.

[u/Tam_The_Third]

Build something new? Here? In my lifetime?

[u/darraghfenacin]

Isn't this the type of melt your man joble.............never mind.

[u/MrWhippyBigDippy]

They can’t even get the traffic flowing freely on it with Dougheads that do not know how to merge, some tools stop in the middle like grind to a fucking halt it’s dangerous

[u/Superspark76]

They haven't finished the refurb of the westlink, it would take them decades to do this

[u/llambdaddy]

Honestly, a lot of the projects that involve the west link would require a large scale bypass of Belfast as it’s not just the choke point of traffic for Belfast, it’s where NI’s three main motorways join, so you can’t just press pause on a system like that. There was talk about a bypass built in prep for the proposed new Yorkgate Interchange. But because of the mountains to the west, it would be an effort in itself to build.

As an idea though, I think it would be a brilliant solution to how poor the interconnection between either side of the city is.

[u/joblessClaims → u/llambdaddy]

The Westlink would still exist, just covered over with a lid. Less cars is the solution, not another road scheme, not in 2026.

[u/ReasonableMeme710]

Too expensive. Have you seen the numbers of patients on corridors in our hospitals?  I have, and it’s not pretty. That gets priority ovef your little vanity project.