{"id":366782,"date":"2017-10-30T16:33:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T16:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=366782"},"modified":"2017-10-30T16:33:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T16:33:03","slug":"game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

A traffic ban at the Dark Hedges – made famous by the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones – has begun.<\/p>\n

The tunnel of beech trees on the Bregagh Road near Armoy in County Antrim has become a major international tourist attraction.<\/p>\n

The scene was used by the Game of Thrones crew to represent the Kingsroad in the HBO drama series.<\/p>\n

The ban comes after concerns about the impact of traffic on the site.<\/p>\n

The Department for Infrastructure order will also prohibit buses and coaches from using the designated stretch of the road.<\/p>\n

The ban is being enforced along Bregagh Road, from its junction with Ballinlea Road to its junction with Ballykenver Road.<\/p>\n

Any motorist who flouts the ban could face a fine of up to \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n

Some vehicles, including agricultural and emergency vehicles, will be exempt from the ban “in certain circumstances”.<\/p>\n

\"Bob<\/span>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bob McCallion has campaigned for the preservation of the Dark Hedges, and he welcomed the traffic restrictions.<\/p>\n

“We have been campaigning to have barriers put on the road because its going to be abused and its going to be very hard to police, but it’s a step forward,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr McCallion called for measures to be be put in place to stop people climbing the trees, and carving their names into them.<\/p>\n

“There needs to be a daily management of the site,” he added.<\/p>\n

‘Damage to trees’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dark Hedges were planted more than 200 years ago by the Stuart family, who created a tree-lined avenue along the entrance to their Gracehill House mansion.<\/p>\n

\"AA large branch of one of the trees fell onto the Bregagh Road in July 2016<\/span><\/figure>\n

About 150 were planted by James Stuart, but time has taken its toll over the centuries and now fewer than two thirds remain standing.<\/p>\n

In January 2016, during Storm Gertrude,\u00a0high winds ripped up two trees, causing them to collapse.<\/p>\n

Later that year,\u00a0a large, rotten branch broke off one of the trees and fell across the road.<\/p>\n

The Dark Hedges became a huge draw for tourists and TV fans after they appeared, albeit briefly, in the closing scene of one episode of Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n

Arya Stark, one of the show’s main characters, was filmed travelling on a cart along the road, disguised as a boy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/span><\/figure>\n

Conservationists have expressed alarm about the increasing traffic levels in the area and the possible damage to the trees’ roots.<\/p>\n

During the Easter holidays this year, pictures of traffic jams were shared on social media and\u00a0some users criticised the number of vehicles lining the road.<\/p>\n

\"Patrick<\/span>
Cars continued to roar by as Patrick Cregg was interviewed by the BBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Patrick Cregg, director of the Woodland trust in Northern Ireland, said tourist coaches in particular were doing great damage.<\/p>\n

“Our great fear was that what we enjoy today future generations would not enjoy, and we have already lost a significant number of trees,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Cregg explained that replanting was already under way to replace the lost trees.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully, with replanting we will create the Dark Hedges of the future, although its going to take centuries for that,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

–<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Source: BBC<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A traffic ban at the Dark Hedges – made famous by the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones – has begun. The tunnel of beech trees on the Bregagh Road near Armoy in County Antrim has become a major international tourist attraction. The scene was used by the Game of Thrones crew to represent the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGame of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A traffic ban at the Dark Hedges – made famous by the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones – has begun. The tunnel of beech trees on the Bregagh Road near Armoy in County Antrim has become a major international tourist attraction. The scene was used by the Game of Thrones crew to represent the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/9207\/production\/_98538373_mccallion.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/\",\"name\":\"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"A traffic ban at the Dark Hedges – made famous by the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones – has begun. The tunnel of beech trees on the Bregagh Road near Armoy in County Antrim has become a major international tourist attraction. The scene was used by the Game of Thrones crew to represent the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/9207\/production\/_98538373_mccallion.jpg"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/","name":"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-30T16:33:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/game-of-thrones-traffic-ban-on-dark-hedges-road-begins\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Game of Thrones: Traffic ban on Dark Hedges road begins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}