Traffic congestion as truck ban in city enforced

National Toll Roads has come under pressure from Dublin City Council to make changes to the West-Link toll plaza following severe traffic congestion on the M50 yesterday - the first day of the council's heavy goods vehicle (HGV) ban.

Traffic was at a standstill on all major routes to Dublin, including the M50 and M1, at peak times yesterday but particularly in the morning following the introduction of the ban on HGVs with five or more axles from Dublin city centre.

The journey through Dublin Port Tunnel to the M50 touted by the National Roads Authority as six minutes in duration took up to an hour yesterday morning, according to AA Roadwatch.

Traffic was at its worst at the West-Link toll plaza on the M50, provoking Dublin City Council to call on the National Roads Authority to ask National Toll Roads, operators of the West-Link, to put mitigation measures in place.

"We don't have direct dealings with National Toll Roads but we've been in touch with them through the National Roads Authority to see if anything can be done with the West-Link, possibly the reconfiguration of lanes, to see if that makes a difference," said Brendan O'Brien of the council's traffic department.

The problems at the West- Link were exacerbated by the breakdown of a van early yesterday at the N4 Lucan interchange near the toll bridge. "It was the worst possible place for a breakdown," he said.

The National Roads Authority said it was very happy with the operation of the port tunnel, which saw a 50 per cent increase in five-axle HGVs yesterday, but conceded there were problems on the M50.

"The West-Link is a bottleneck . . . There were significant back-ups at the West-Link and it was hard to get through that chokepoint," a National Roads Authority spokesman said.

National Toll Roads said it was in continuous discussions with the National Roads Authority over the operation of West-Link but would not say if it would make any alterations to the plaza to accommodate the council's ban.

"The M50 as a whole is under severe pressure. There has today been a noticeable increase in HGV traffic and there are existing restrictions on the M50 because of the road upgrade work, but these delays are in evidence throughout the M50 not just at West-Link," it said.

The Irish Road Haulage Association said the traffic on the M50 yesterday confirmed its warnings that the HGV ban was premature.

"That traffic was a sorry story. It further reinforces the folly of the council which was in an indecent rush to bring in this ban before the M50 upgrade works were completed," its spokesman Jimmy Quinn said.

The ban forces hauliers travelling from the southeast to take the M50 north to the port tunnel to access Dublin Port. Mr Quinn said this was the cause of the M50 congestion, which could have been avoided if the council had left the Seán Moore and East Wall Roads open.

"They tried to do too much too quick, if these roads were left open the ban on trucks in the city centre would still work."

Dublin city manager John Tierney has the power to lift the cordon and allow southern access to the port along the Seán Moore Road and Strand Road if he feels the ban is adversely affecting traffic. Mr Tierney said the ban will be reviewed in six months.

The ban excludes five-axle HGVs from a cordon between the Royal and Grand canals, as well as Sandymount, Ringsend and part of the Navan Road from 7am to 7pm daily. Councillors will consider extending the ban to include four-axle HGVs after two years' operation of the ban.