The govt have been very tight lipped on how the buses will cross roads. The likes of Holywood Arches and the Springfield Rd are major junctions that will be hard to cross without causing traffic chaos- remember how the arches used to be a proper rail bridge. I doubt the public of today would tolerate loads of bridges around the city. Perhaps the DRD will tunnel, although knowing Belfast they will go the cheap option and just have special traffic lights for the buses (even the LUAS has to obey red lights sometimes). There must be several dozen junctions that they'll have to negotiate, but no info is forthcoming.
Sydenham Bypass is a funny one. They intend to knock down Dee Street bridge and build another bridge for cars nearby, though I see no reason why they dont retain the old bridge for the buses, ditto the station street flyover that is also scheduled for demolition. unecessarily building new bridges would be the height of foolishness though without joined up thinking between the various departments who knows what will happen. I dislike how the government keeps people in the dark.
As for the Greenway, as little as 20 years ago they were still considering using it for a motorway. The nicest part of it is the Bloomfield to Knock carriageway section, which even without the 100's of trees they recently cut down to lay sewer pipes is still a lovely area that looks like a proper park. Once you get more suburban than that path is increasingly barren and souless, large parts of which were only opened to the public 6 months ago. The DRD wishes to keep a cycle lane alongside the busway, although in parts I'm sure its too narrow to accomadate both. I think this is the main reason for local opposition, ie the loss possible loss of open space. There would of course be some indefensible NIMBY hysteria, but I suspect most concern is genuine. No doubt some people (rightly or wrongly) fear large tracts of their garden will be vested. Paradoxically though one of their complaints is that it isnt a tram.
I'm in 2 minds about the EWAY. It will be a shame if it makes the cycle path a no go zone for pedestrians. And of course it isnt going to be on par with the LUAS or London's DLR. On the other hand Belfast and surrounding towns could really do with rapid transport, even 2nd rate ones like this. However there's also the problem that at times it bypasses popular places which would be ideal for stops, like Ballyhackamore & Stormont & Ballybeen. This wouldnt be much of an issue, apart from the fact that the govt will dramatically reduce the amount of buses in the area. This will be bad if you live in an isolated street far away from one of the EWAY stations, which is likely to apply to thousands of households. And of course the refusal to send these buses to Comber/ Newtownards, City Airport/ Holywood Exchange, City Hospital, Andytown/Twinbrook drastically reduces the chance these buses have of being a success. There are some issues I have with the opposition though. Some of their complaints are lies. They portray the scheme as if it was a busy road cutting through East Belfast. There will only 2 buses driving past every 5 minutes, whereas a road would have, what, 200 cars?
