A total of £4million funding will be made available to develop the York Street Interchange project in Belfast to a construction ready state, the Infrastructure Minister has confirmed.

The contract award for the development will also be progressed, according to Minister Chris Hazzard.

Minister Hazzard said: "This is an important step in the development of the Interchange which is seeking to address the traffic delays at this heavily congested location. There is no doubt that a scheme of this scale represents a significant investment in our economy. By removing the traffic bottleneck, the new interchange will improve journey time reliability and road safety for motorists, including freight transport, and support the competitiveness of the Port of Belfast with improved links to the strategic road network.

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"I am pleased to announce that funding of up to £4million will be allocated to allow the scheme to be developed to a point where construction could begin. The identification of funding for the construction phase will be dependent on future budgets and is unclear at this time.

"The consultation process recommended within the Public Inquiry Report is now commencing with the local community and key stakeholders. The release of funding to allow a contractor to come on board to develop the scheme will improve the quality of this process."

(CD/MH)