IRELAND: Police will be closing motorways and restricting access to other roads late tonight (Saturday, July 30) while a spectacular and record-breaking heavy load is transported on a 12-mile journey from Belfast Harbour West to Kilroot Power Station.
According to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the amazing "abnormal load" is to the best of its knowledge the longest and heaviest movement ever to use the road network in Northern Ireland. It is thought that the journey, which would normally take vehicles about 20 minutes to complete, will set out around 11pm on Saturday night and will take several hours to get to its destination. The transfer from the harbour to the power station will be completed under a full police escort.
A gas turbine that is 80.2 metres long, 6.45 metres in diameter, and weighs 529 tonnes is the slow-moving abnormal load. Starting at 11 p.m., the route will be blocked to all other traffic as it is carried from Belfast Harbour West to Kilroot Power Station on the M2 and M5 citybound sides.
The load, according to the police, will enter the M2 via the Fortwilliam Roundabout citybound off-slip road and will proceed northward on the M2 and M5 to Kilroot on lanes intended for Belfast, effectively travelling on the opposite side of the road. As a result, the motorways at those locations will be completely shut down.
The complete load movement path
Belfast Harbour West – Dargan Rd – M2 on Junction 1 Fortwilliam – M2 – M5 – A2 – Carrickfergus – A2 – Kilroot. The load will move back onto the Carrickfergus and Kilroot bound lanes on the A2 Shore Road around Whiteabbey.
As a result, Junction 2 Greencastle on the M2 citybound must be blocked, and vehicles must exit the freeway and merge onto the A2 Shore Road in order to travel to Belfast. At Greencastle, the A2 Shore Road on-slip to the M2 citybound will likewise be shut down.
The M5 Citybound will not be accessible from the Rushpark Roundabout. Here, the police state that when the load flows off the M5 at Rushpark and through the Whiteabbey region, they will make operational judgments and reroute traffic as necessary.
Given the late hour and the little traffic, they anticipate that any traffic disruptions will be minor. The load is expected to pass through the A2 Shore Road undisturbed, therefore officials have asked drivers to obey any directions provided by police escort officers. They have also asked vehicle owners to make sure that the allocated routes are kept clear of obstructions.
It is expected to be the largest and last in a series of recent unusual load movements out of the city.
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