DfI long-term transport vision for east of Northern Ireland: key points for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on New Civil Engineer
30 Second Briefing
DfI has published its Transport Strategy 2035 and launched consultation on the draft Eastern Transport Plan 2035, setting a long-term framework for road, rail and active travel investment across the east of Northern Ireland. The plan will guide corridor upgrades on key radial routes into Belfast, prioritise bus and rail capacity improvements, and reallocate urban road space for segregated cycling and walking. For civil and transport engineers, it signals the reference document for future junction designs, multimodal interchanges and network resilience schemes through to 2035.
Technical Brief
- Eastern Transport Plan 2035 consultation stage means alignments, junction forms and cross-sections are still influenceable by designers.
- Network resilience and climate adaptation works in the region can now be justified as delivering ETP 2035 outcomes.
Our Take
In our database, the Department for Infrastructure’s Belfast Rapid Transit Phase 2 work with AtkinsRéalis (June 2026 items) looks like an early delivery vehicle that could be folded into or benchmarked against the Eastern Transport Plan 2035 corridor priorities.
The DfI‑funded moveable active‑travel bridge over the River Lagan (January 2026 coverage) signals that active travel and river‑crossing resilience are already being trialled at project level, giving planners practical reference schemes as they operationalise the Eastern Transport Plan 2035.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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