Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 346: To ask the Minister for Transport when his or his predecessor's attention was first drawn to the inadequacy of the Dublin Port tunnel to cater for the higher HGVs on roads; if action was taken on discovery of this information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9196/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Dublin Port tunnel project was developed by Dublin City Council and the National Roads Authority, NRA, in the context of prevailing legislation governing maximum vehicle heights. Following the withdrawal, in July 2000, of these regulations, requests were made to increase the operational height of the tunnel.

In August 2003 the then Minister for Transport commissioned Atkins Consultants to review the feasibility, safety implications and cost of raising the height of the Dublin Port tunnel. The options for increasing the height of the tunnel were also considered by the NRA and Dublin City Council. In addition, the contractor, NMI Consortium, priced the work that would be involved in increasing the height of the tunnel.

It was clear from this work that raising the height of the tunnel would not be justified having regard to safety considerations and additional cost and delay factors and I announced my decision not to increase the height of the tunnel in October 2004.

As a major new addition to the road infrastructure in the Dublin area, the port tunnel will provide relief to the city centre, environmental and safety benefits and relief from congestion for freight distributors and other port related traffic.

The issue of traffic management following the opening of the port tunnel is a matter for Dublin City Council in conjunction with the NRA. I understand that arrangements are being put in place to ensure the smooth integration of traffic from the port tunnel into the Dublin road network, particularly at the M1-M50 interchange, and to avoid congestion in the port area.

The upgrade of the M1-M50 junction forms part of the overall M50 upgrade and is scheduled for construction as a part of phase 2 of that project which will involve the provision of a third lane in each direction on the full length of the M50 and the upgrading of interchanges. The upgrade will provide free flow lanes for all M1-M50 traffic movements. This and the other improvements incorporated in the M50 upgrade project, including the move to free flow open road tolling, will significantly increase the capacity of the M50-M1 junction and provide a substantially improved performance over current arrangements.