Re-imaging Public Realm

Linen Quarter BID has realised a programme of interventions within the Linen Quarter aimed at making the district more pedestrian friendly. The programme follows the announcement of measures to improve the pedestrian and cycling experience in Belfast by the Department of Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon in May 2020.

Linen Quarter BID has championed the concept of sustainable urban regeneration since 2018. Its regeneration vision has already laid the groundwork for the phasing out of motorised traffic, and implementation of high quality cycle and pedestrian spaces within the district.

Improving the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure within the Linen Quarter will encourage workers, residents and visitors to the district, to use more sustainable modes of transport. This will help enhance the health and wellbeing of our population whilst improving air quality within the city.

Linen Quarter BID have been working closely with the Department for Infrastructure and Belfast City Council to progress this £500K public realm programme. Funding for these projects was partially drawn from the City Centre Revitalisation Fund, administered by the Department for Communities and Belfast City Council, with the Linen Quarter BID providing additional funding.

The interventions completed as part of the programme include installation of ‘parklets’ that incorporate public seating and planting; transformation of on-street parking bays to create enhanced pedestrian zones and opportunities for pavement cafes; and the development of a new social hub at Brunswick Street.

Linen Quarter BID have developed a concept study to transform Blackstaff Square into an enhanced social space in the heart of the city centre. At the basis of the BID’s proposals lies the desire to transform Blackstaff Square from a transient space into a high-quality public space in which people of all abilities and ages feel welcome and choose to dwell. We believe that by adopting a one-square approach in which pedestrians are the priority user we have the best change to achieve that vision. The aim therefore is to minimise overall motorised traffic through Amelia Street in line with best practice in the field of inclusive placemaking.

Concepts for the square envisage a vibrant and accessible social space complete with an outdoor zone and pavement café stretching from the Crown Liquor Saloon onto Great Victoria Street and Brunswick Street. The suggested proposal also advocates for high-quality resurfacing of Amelia Street to integrate the road surface into the surrounding square. See Blackstaff Square – Belfast Street Cleaning – Linen Quarter BID 

For more information on any of the above, please contact: christiaan@linenquarter.org 

Building upon its Regeneration Vision (published in 2019), the Linen Quarter BID is actively working to facilitate the (re)development of the road infrastructure within the district to enable a shift from private car use to more sustainable forms of transport, e.g., zero emission public transport vehicles and cycling/walking. Transport emits 20% of Northern Ireland’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with private cars being the biggest contributor. Poor air quality is also the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and contributes to 800 deaths a year in Northern Ireland.

Proposals for traffic management within the Linen Quarter, such as the establishment a SuperBlock (see LQ Superblock – Linen Quarter BID) in the Blackstaff Square area and a Linen Quarter wide 20mph zone, have already been put forward by the BID. The Blackstaff area Superblock proposal advocates for a reduction in generic traffic between Bedford Street and Great Victoria Street in favour of boosting active forms of travel and green space, while maintaining access for service traffic – e.g. delivery vehicles, bin lorries and emergency vehicles.

The BID is currently working to develop a cycling strategy that will include designation of cycling priority routes and detailed designs of cycling road infrastructure along these routes. The BID’s Regeneration Vision (2019) foresees a cycling highway linking East Belfast directly with the Belfast Grand Central Station on Durham Street via the Gasworks, Bankmore Link and Bruce Street / Hope Street.

The BID has been actively scoping for sites across the Linen Quarter for implementation of planting to increase the quality of the local urban ecology. In the last few years a number of sites have been fitted with new or updated planting including the Thomas Thompson junction, Linenhall Street/Clarence Street corner, Great Victoria Street/Hope Street corner and new planters on Blackstaff Square and on our parklets. The BID has also been working with the Council to install seasonal ‘flower towers’ along the District’s main streets. Most recently, the BID greatly improved the functionality of Bankmore Square as a green space by relaying grass lawns and adding new green features such as a wildflower meadow for boosting biodiversity within the District.

Linen Quarter BID aim to continue to explore options for pedestrianisation of (parts of) underused road surfaces and on-street car parking in the future in consultation with the Department for Infrastructures and Belfast City Council.

For more information on any of the above, please contact: christiaan@linenquarter.org 

The BID has been actively scoping for sites across the Linen Quarter for implementation of planting to increase the quality of the local urban ecology. In the last few years a number of sites have been fitted with new or updated planting including the Thomas Thompson junction, Linenhall Street/Clarence Street corner, Great Victoria Street/Hope Street corner and new planters on Blackstaff Square and on our parklets. The BID has also been working with the Council to install seasonal ‘flower towers’ along the District’s main streets. Most recently, the BID greatly improved the functionality of Bankmore Square as a green space by relaying grass lawns and adding new green features such as a wildflower meadow for boosting biodiversity within the District.

For more information on any of the above, please contact: christiaan@linenquarter.org