Lorries are to be banned from two of the four lanes of the Dublin Port Tunnel when it opens later this year, writes Tim O'Brien
The tunnel, built at a cost of at least €775 million over the last five years, was designed to take the vast majority of 9,500 lorries out of the city centre each day.
However, the city council yesterday confirmed that lorries are to be confined to the left lane in each of the twin dual-carriageways that make up the tunnel.
The ban emerged after the Irish Road Haulage Association pointed out that the right-hand lane of the northbound tunnel disgorges traffic on to the overtaking lane of the motorway at Whitehall. Lorries are banned from the overtaking lanes of motorways and drivers who transgress are liable for up to three penalty points on their licence.
The hauliers were due to discuss their difficulty with junior Transport Minister Pat "the cope" Gallagher next Wednesday.
However, yesterday a spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said the difficulty for lorries emerging from the tunnel on to the motorway's right-hand lane would not arise, as the lorries would be also be barred from the right-hand lane of the tunnel.
The spokeswoman said there had been a lot of "misconceptions" about the road layout approaching and in the tunnel. She explained the tunnel was designed to take traffic seamlessly from the main lanes of the motorway "because the tunnel is the motorway".
She also explained that the tunnel itself and the stretch of open motorway between Whitehall and the M50 - currently the M1 - would be redesignated part of the M50.
She insisted that the volume of lorries would not cause a problem. It had been estimated that 350 lorries might arrive from a ferry in the port at the same time, and even though these lorries are obliged to maintain a 50m distance from each other, the council spokeswoman said the tunnel "will work perfectly."
Under current legislation the right-hand lane ban on lorries above 3,500kg also applies to coaches and buses that carry more than eight people and to vehicles towing other vehicles. The right-hand lanes of the north and southbound tunnels that are collectively called the Dublin Port Tunnel are to be reserved for vans and light commercial vehicles as well as private cars, all of which will pay a toll.