Appeal to examine Strangford ferry traffic

Appeal to examine Strangford ferry traffic

18 July 2018

ROADS officials have been urged to end tailbacks in the heart of Strangford during peak holiday periods when drivers queue to use the ferry crossing.

Councillor Cadogan Enright has issued an appeal to the Department of Infrastructure to ensure drivers use a dedicated lane which he argues would prevent gridlock in the centre of the village.

His appeal comes after a tailback of vehicles blocked access to the Shore Road which leads to Killough last Thursday. 

He said roads officials insist drivers use a dedicated lane on the Portaferry side of the waterway and should implement the same policy on the Strangford side.

“Strangford was again choked with cars on Thursday evening of last week to the point that buses could not get in or out and access to the Shore Road was blocked,” he continued.

“I have attended two meetings with Department officials since 2016 to address ferry-driven congestion in the village. Most recently, officials agreed to hire more staff to marshall ferry traffic into a waiting area rather than trail cars all the way up the village.”

Cllr Enright claimed an agreement reached between the ferry service and local people included running two ferries on busy days and meeting village association members to agree which days will be selected for this at the start of every year. 

“No effort has been made to meet village representatives in this regard as yet and the number given to contact the ferry service is no longer connected to warn of unexpected events,” he claimed.

“It was agreed that additional staff would be employed to marshall cars into the ferry’s own waiting area, mirroring Portaferry, and not blocking up the village centre on busy days. This additional staffing is not being consistently deployed and the queuing area is left empty while the village is still getting blocked up.”

Cllr Enright also claimed it was agreed that both queuing lanes would be used in Strangford as in Portaferry.

He suggested that as additional staff are not normally available, the second lane is often not used, making the congestion problem though the village worse. He argued the current agreement with the ferry service is no longer fit for purpose.

“There will always be a yacht race, fog, a ferry out or service or some other unexpected event. The pain of unexpected events or unexpected demand can no longer be dumped on residents in the village.

“The ferry service needs to use its own queuing area and not just assume they can block up the village whenever they fail to predict the future properly. Their crystal ball does not work and they need to respect the people of Strangford in the same way they respect the people of Portaferry. If using the queuing area in Strangford was the norm as in Portaferry, none of these ‘unexpected events’ would be able to shut down the village.”

A Department for Infrastructure spokesman explained an enhanced ferry service using two vessels operated on days when very high demand was anticipated. 

“Over the past number of years, the very high demand has been typically July 13 and 14. Therefore, this July the enhanced service was planned for 13th, 14th and 15th from 11am until 7pm and extra staff were brought in for these three days to manage traffic and help with ticket sales,” he explained. 

“The ‘marshalling area’ in Strangford was set up for use, but the actual traffic volumes were such that it did not need to be utilised over this period.

“The traffic congestion experienced in the village at approximately 6pm on July 12 was short lived and was caused by the ferry service having to delay a sailing because of a yacht race on Strangford Lough.”

The spokesman added: “As a result, an additional member of staff was brought in to assist to manage the build-up of traffic which was then cleared in two sailings. The Department apologises for any inconvenience caused.”

The Department for Infrastructure said the ferry service can be contacted on 0300 2007 898 from Monday to Friday between 9am and 12.30pm and between 1pm and 4pm.