Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
1996 No. 531

ROAD TRAFFIC AND VEHICLES
Bus Lanes (Shaftesbury Square and Great Victoria Street, Belfast) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996

Made
12th November 1996

Coming into operation
20th January 1997

WHEREAS the Department of the Environment has published a notice in compliance with Article 23(1) and (2) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(1);
AND WHEREAS no objection or representation has been received;

NOW THEREFORE the Department, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 22(1) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, and being satisfied that the areas of road specified in Article 2 and the Schedule are unsuitable for unrestricted use by vehicles, makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Bus Lanes (Shaftesbury Square and Great Victoria Street, Belfast) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 and shall come into operation on 20th January 1997.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“bus” means a public service vehicle constructed or adapted to carry 12 or more passengers;

“the bus lane” means the areas of the carriageways of the lengths of Shaftesbury Square and Great Victoria Street, Belfast, described in the Schedule.

Restriction on traffic

3.  Save as provided in Article 4, a person shall not, during the hours 8.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. on the days Monday to Friday inclusively, except upon the direction or with the permission of a constable in uniform or of a traffic warden, cause or permit any vehicle other than a bus or pedal cycle to enter, proceed or wait in the bus lane.

Exceptions

4.  The prohibition in Article 3 shall not render it unlawful for any person to cause or permit any vehicle to enter, proceed or wait in the bus lane so far as such entry, proceeding or waiting is reasonably necessary to enable the vehicle to be used—

(a)for access to or from premises adjacent to or accessible only by crossing the bus lane; or

(b)for police, military, fire brigade or ambulance purposes; or

(c)in the services of the Department in pursuance of statutory powers or duties; or

(d)in connection with the supply of electricity or any telegraphic line within the bus lane or an area accessible only from the bus lane.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 12th November 1996.

L.S.
J. Carlisle
Assistant Secretary

SCHEDULEBus Lanes

1.  The area of the citybound carriageway of that length of Shaftesbury Square which extends from a point approximately 45 metres north of its junction with Donegall Road, to its junction with Great Victoria Street, bounded on its eastern side by the outer edge of a road marking in the form of a continuous longitudinal white line and on its western side by the kerbline of Shaftesbury Square.

2.  The area of the carriageway of that length of Great Victoria Street which extends from its junction with Shaftesbury Square, to a point approximately 9 metres south of its junction with Bruce Street, bounded on its eastern side by the outer edge of a road marking in the form of a continuous longitudinal white line and on its western side by the kerbline of Great Victoria Street, broken only by gaps at its junctions with Albion Street, Wellwood Street and Windsor Street and at pedestrian crossings.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)
This Order provides for with-flow bus lanes between 8.00 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. and between 4.30 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday inclusively on—
1.  part of the citybound carriageway of Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, which extends from a point approximately 45 metres north of its junction with Donegall Road, to its junction with Great Victoria Street; and

2.  part of the carriageway of Great Victoria Street, Belfast, which extends from its junction with Shaftesbury Square, to a point approximately 9 metres south of its junction with Bruce Street.

Vehicles requiring access are excepted from the provisions of the Order.

Any person who acts in contravention of the Order shall be guilty of an offence under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (£1,000).

Traffic signs indicating the effect of the Order will in due course be erected on the roads.

(1)
S.I. 1981/154 (N.I. 1); see Article 2(2) for the definition of “Department”