New signs erected near M50 as part of crash response plans

New signs have been erected on roads near the M50 as authorities prepare to roll out plans to deal with major crashes on the motorway.

The vulnerability of the Dublin ringroad was exposed in November when a crash shut one side of it for about seven hours.

The incident, which happened at a point on the Lucan interchange where the slip roads from the N4 and the Chapelizod bypass merge, caused major disruption and lead to calls for better contingency planning in the event of a serious collision on the road.

The “Interagency Incident Coordination Group” was set up last August to look at how best to respond to collisions causing significant disruption on the M50.

The group comprises An Garda Síochána, Dublin Fire Brigade, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Motorway Traffic Control Centre as well as the four Dublin local authorities.

In response to a question from councillor William Lavelle, South Dublin County Council said the group has developed a protocol for an emergency response to major incidents on the motorway, which it has been trialling since mid-April.

The plan involves preparing alternative traffic routes in the event of a full closure of the M50 for a significant period of hours. The routes are marked with permanent signs, mounted on existing road signs, displaying a triangle symbol.

To date, three emergency routes have been designed while consultation has been carried out on 13 possible routes. Signs have been erected for the route from the N2 - N3 and design work is underway for other routes.

A spokesman for transport infrastructure Ireland said: “These diversion routes are intended to be the best available alternative routes which will alleviate but not eliminate the disruption arising from major incidents, particularly at times of peak traffic.”

He added: “Each route will be indicated by a symbol attached to existing signs and diversions will be initiated by means of existing [ELECTRONIC]variable message signs located on the M50.”