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.
The slow-moving abnormal load is a gas turbine, which measures 80.2 metres long by 6.45 metres in diameter, and weighs 529 tonnes. Initially, it will be taken from Belfast Harbour West to Kilroot Power Station on the M2 and M5 citybound sides, which means the route will be closed to all other traffic from 11pm.
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The police say that the load will access the M2 directly on the Fortwilliam Roundabout citybound off-slip road and will then travel northwards on the M2 and M5 to Kilroot on Belfast-bound lanes — effectively the wrong side of the road — meaning that the motorways there will be completely closed.
The full route of the load movement
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.
It is therefore required that the M2 citybound must be closed at Junction 2 Greencastle, with traffic leaving the motorway to join the A2 Shore Road to head towards Belfast. The A2 Shore Road on-slip to the M2 citybound at Greencastle will also be closed.
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There will be no access to the M5 Citybound at the Rushpark Roundabout. Here the police say that they will make operational decisions and redirect traffic as required as the load moves leaves the M5 at Rushpark and through the Whiteabbey area.
They hope that given the time of night with low traffic volumes, any disruption to traffic should be minimal. Officers have asked motorists to comply with any instructions given by police escort officers and are also asking vehicle owners to ensure that the designated routes are kept clear of obstructions in order to allow the load to move unhindered as it passes along the A2 Shore Road.
It is anticipated that this will be the largest — and last — of a series of recent abnormal load movements out of the city.
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