Five-axle heavy goods vehicles banned from Dublin city centre

Traffic congestion on the M50 is expected to increase from this morning with the introduction of the ban on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) with five or more axles from Dublin city centre.

Up to 2,000 HGVs a day will be removed from Dublin city streets from 7am today and a large number of these will divert on to the M50. The NRA, the National Roads Authority, says "no special arrangements" will be made on the M50 to cope with the increased volumes.

Meanwhile hauliers claim the ban will cause chaos on the motorway.

The ban has been introduced by Dublin City Council to reduce the number of large lorries in the city, particularly on the congested city quays, by forcing them to use the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Five-axle HGVs will be banned from a cordon that includes the area between the Royal and Grand canals, as well as Sandymount, Ringsend and part of the Navan Road from 7am-7pm daily.

Those with business in the city centre will be expected to make deliveries outside these hours.

Where this is not possible, a one-day permit for entry to the city can be obtained from the council, but hauliers must satisfy it that they are delivering to city-based businesses and not using the city as a route out of town.

Hauliers who break the cordon without a permit face fines of up to €1,500 and imprisonment. However, the council has agreed to pay the tolls on the East-Link bridge (in which it is a shareholder), at a cost of up to €1 million a year, for HGVs which have to use the route to access the south port.

It will not pay the West-Link tolls on the M50, even though a large number of hauliers will be forced to use the route, particularly those coming from the southeast who will have to take the M50 north to the port tunnel to access the port.

The NRA says it does not intend to lift the West-Link toll or make any changes on the M50 as a result of the ban.

"We will be making no special arrangements on the M50. The tunnel is fully operational and this [ the ban] is what the tunnel was designed for," an NRA spokesman said.

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) says the ban is premature, crude and unscientific and will lead to "widespread traffic chaos" on the M50.

"It's one of our dearest principals that no truck should be in the city centre unless it has business there, but this ban is very premature in advance of the M50 upgrade and barrier-free tolling on the West-Link," said spokesman Jimmy Quinn.

The Garda has the power to lift the ban if there are accidents or traffic problems in the tunnel or on other routes. City manager John Tierney can also amend the ban and has said it will be reviewed in six months.

The five-axle ban is a climb-down from a 2005 proposal to ban HGVs of three axles or more.