The team also has the ability to intervene directly in the operation of the road network, including adjusting traffic signal timings when incidents occur.
From major events and crashes to increasingly intense storms, the team behind TrafficWatchNI’s more than 200 cameras has a front-row seat to everything happening on Northern Ireland’s road network.
Most drivers will know the feeling. You are sitting in traffic, watching the minutes tick by and wondering what has brought the road network to a standstill. Somewhere in Belfast, however, a team of people may already know the answer.
Above the Department for Infrastructure’s operations at Airport Road, a bank of screens provides an extraordinary window onto Northern Ireland’s roads. From this room, Traffic Control Operators watch the network around the clock, looking for everything from a broken-down vehicle to a major collision, while keeping information flowing to motorists and the emergency services.
It is a job that rarely stops. The Traffic Information Control Centre has been operating since 1994 and today sits at the heart of the Department for Infrastructure’s efforts to monitor the road network, manage congestion and respond when things go wrong.
“The traffic Information Control centre is part of the Department for Infrastructure, and it has been here since 1994, previously located in the city centre on Ann Street,” Philip Robinson, Head of Intelligent Transport Systems at the Department for Infrastructure, told Belfast Live.
“We cover the whole monitoring of the traffic network and the road network in Northern Ireland.”
“We have four divisions within the department where we are always looking for congestion and trying to reduce congestion.”
The scale of the operation is perhaps easiest to appreciate through the cameras. More than 200 digital cameras are now used by the team, giving operators a constantly changing picture of what is happening across the network.
Philip says the seven Traffic Control Operators based in the control room work a 24-hour shift pattern. Their role is not simply to watch screens but to interpret what they see, decide what needs to happen, and communicate that information to those who need it.
“I have a team of seven traffic control operators based here upstairs in our new control room, and they work a 24/7 shift pattern, which involves managing and observing with over 200 digital cameras that we have now, and it provides an essential service for the public.”
For the travelling public, one of the most visible parts of that work is TrafficWatchNI. Its website and social media channels turn what is happening behind the screens into information that drivers can actually use, whether that means avoiding a collision, allowing extra time for a journey or knowing that a road is blocked.
The service now has more than 90,000 followers, and Philip says its importance has grown as the department has sought to provide motorists with information as quickly as possible.
“It’s really all about maintaining communications with the general public, the travelling public, and also other statutory bodies as well,” he said.
“Our constant monitoring ensures that we have that control over providing information to the public, for example, through our TrafficWatch NI website.
“We have over 90,000 followers now, which is growing incrementally year on year. It obviously helps keep the public informed of any incidents on the network to help with their journey planning, and, with 24/7 coverage here, it ensures that the information is always up to date.”
But the control room’s role goes beyond telling people that there is a problem. The team also has the ability to intervene directly in the operation of the road network, including adjusting traffic signal timings when incidents occur.
That becomes particularly important when thousands of people are converging on one location. Events such as the Balmoral Show and Belfast’s major music festivals can put enormous pressure on already busy roads, requiring the control room to work with the police and other partners to keep people moving.
“An important element is the monitoring of the traffic signals and the set plans that we have throughout all of the junctions we have here in Northern Ireland.
“We have that control and responsibility and option of changing the timings, adjusting them accordingly, to incidents on the network.
“For example, in May, we have the Balmoral Show, and we play a big part in managing the access and egress to the Balmoral Show with over 30,000 visitors a day over a 4-day period.”
The same principle was put to the test during the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Belfast in August. For the first time, the event brought huge crowds into the city, creating a different set of challenges for the road network.
The control centre worked alongside the PSNI and Silver Command, monitoring the roads and responding as incidents developed. Park-and-ride facilities were another part of the wider effort to manage the additional pressure.
There is also a less glamorous side to the work. A vehicle breaking down on a busy road may seem like a relatively minor incident, but on a route such as the Westlink, it can quickly become a major disruption.
When an operator spots an incident, the response involves communicating with police officers on the ground, ensuring the appropriate incident management procedures are activated and keeping the public informed. The control room effectively becomes the link between what is happening on the road and those trying to navigate around it.
“We communicate with the police, and we ensure that the incident management protocol comes into place, and it kicks in with the police team on the ground, helping to remove a vehicle.
“For example, if it’s a vehicle that is broken down on the Westlink, which is a regular occurrence, then, observing that, communicating with them, updating our TrafficWatch NI website and keeping that two-way channel of communication open.”
For the operators themselves, that means spending hours intensely focused on screens, often with little warning of what might happen next. A normal shift can be eight or 12 hours, but major incidents can stretch well beyond that.
The demands of the job have also shifted as the nature of incidents affecting the road network has changed. Philip Robinson says storms have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, adding another layer of complexity to a role in which experience can be crucial.
“Our shifts can be 8 hours, it can be 12 hours, and the recent example with the Fleadh, it can be longer than that.
“It’s quite demanding and intense, observation of all of our cameras across the network, responding to incidents such as storm events as we come into the storm season now, and we have found over the last 4 or 5 years.
“The frequency of storms and their intensity are very much on the rise.”
It is a job where experience cannot simply be acquired overnight. Philip says it can take as long as 12 years to fully get to grips with the role, while some of those working in the centre have spent decades behind the screens.
Even after years in the control room, the operators do not consider themselves finished learning. The road network is constantly changing, and every major incident brings its own particular set of circumstances.
“So the pressure and the commitment from the staff and the traffic control operators is very demanding, and it takes a lot of experience, and on-the-job experience to get to grips with it; it can take up to 12 years.
“Some of the operators here have been working here for decades. and are still saying we’re still learning aspects of the job.”
The centre itself has also undergone a major transformation. Over the past year, more than half a million pounds has been invested in the Airport Road building, with much of the work focused on the upper deck and the control room.
Walls have been removed, windows installed, and new ergonomic furniture brought in, creating a more modern environment for staff whose working day can involve hours of intense concentration.
“In the last year, we have embarked on a huge investment in the building here in Airport Road in Belfast, over half a million pounds worth, primarily on the upper deck and in the control room, and that is increasing the capacity, bringing in better ergonomic design furniture.
“We have knocked walls down. We have put windows in to create more natural light, and in general, it’s a more pleasant environment to be working in.”
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