HGV ban in Dublin city centre on the cards march 2003

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan can expect to incur the wrath of the road haulage industry, following his admission that he intends to ban heavy good vehicles from the centre of Dublin when the Dublin Port Tunnel is completed in 2005. Words: John Loughran.

When the Dublin Port Tunnel is finally completed in 2005 it will remove some 8,000 HGVs from the streets of the capital every day. An additional 900 or so trucks per day could also be removed if, Dublin City Council increases height clearance at the tunnel from 4.65 to 4.9 metres. On completion the Dublin Port Tunnel will greatly benefit the economic life of the port and make a significant contribution to traffic management in the capital. But, it should not be seen as a panacea for all the city's transport ills.

The completion of the LUAS Line, further investment in quality bus corridors, the breaking up of CIE, a significant investment in the bus fleet, more carriages on the DART and a dedicated rail service to the Airport are all required to improve the capital's ailing transport infrastructure. Then, and only then will Dublin get moving again. The 4.5 km Dublin Port Tunnel, with an estimated price tag of ï¿½625 million was designed to reduce travel times for trucks between the orbital M50 and Dublin Port. It was designed to bring HGVs to and from the port without the need of passing through the heart of the city.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan

Now however, Transport Minister Seamus Brennan seemingly views the tunnel as the solution to all the capital's traffic management problems as well as an important road safety tool. The minister said he was extremely concerned by figures from the National Safety Council, which showed that 494 people were killed between 1996 and 2001 in goods vehicle related accidents. This writer also received a copy of the statistics which clearly stated that 74 per cent of fatalities involving goods vehicles occurred in rural areas, while just over a quarter (26 per cent) happened in built up areas. While every transport operator in the country will admit that just one death involving a goods vehicle is one too many, it is unfair of the minister to link road deaths with a move to bludgeon the road haulage industry out of the capital.

Mr Brennan was also quoted as saying that he is "extremely worried" about recently published National Roads Authority statistics (NRA), which shows that 90 per cent of goods vehicles break the speed limit in 30 mph zones in built up areas. A mechanism - the penalty points system - has now been put in place to address this issue, and the minister should let the Garda Siochana get on with the job. Sounding off, or issuing dictates, isn't the way forward. "I have come to the conclusion that an across the-board ban on trucks is the only way forward. There is no point in spending ï¿½700 million on a tunnel if you cannot get the trucks to use it," he said.

The hard-hitting move will form part of an all-out effort to save lives and ease traffic gridlock on the city's streets, according to the minister. The new rules will mean that all port traffic will be forced to use the tunnel. The only potential exception would be trucks embarking on short suburban journeys where it wouldn't make sense to the use theM50. To coincide with the ban, the minister intends introducing 'delivery windows' in the capital, which will have huge implications for the road haulage industry. Delivery windows are now 'best practice' in many European cities, but it will take the road the industry time to adjust.

Just last year Dublin City Council proposed to improve traffic flows in the city centre by banning HGVs between 7.00am and 7.00pm, with a two-hour delivery window between 10.00am and noon. The plan is currently on the back-burner, but in light of the minister's comments 'delivery windows' will become part and parcel of the commercial life of the city when the Dublin Port Tunnel opens in 2005. At that time a business grouping, which included IBEC, RGDATA, the Beverage Council of Ireland, the Licensed Vintners Federation and the Food and Drink Federation of Ireland stated that it would be "physically impossible" to carry out all the commercial deliveries required during the day in a two-hour period.

In an interview with Irish Trucker magazine last August, Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association said the proposed plan would sound the eventual death knell for the economic life of the city centre. "The more they (Dublin City Council) make it difficult for people to do business in the city (deliveries and collections), the more it will strangle the economic life of the inner city. Eventually shops will be forced to re-locate along the outer ring of the M50, We feel this would be a very unhealthy development," Quinn commented. Quinn conceded that there was scope for improvement in the scheduling of deliveries.

"However, if everybody has to get their deliveries between 10.00am and 12 noon, what are we going to do with our staff and our vehicles for the rest of the day?" The way forward, according to Quinn is to develop an integrated traffic management policy for the city. He believes a long term solution to the problem will only be found, if all transport issues are tackled simultaneously. He commented: "Everybody has a part to play in solving this problem. We are calling for a team effort to solve this problem. It won't be solved by issuing dictates."

Perhaps Transport Minister Seamus Brennan was 'upping the ante' when making his comments in an effort to provoke a debate on Dublin's worsening gridlock. Perhaps they were just 'off the cuff' remarks. Whatever his motives, the minister won't solve gridlock in the capital without the co-operation of the road haulage industry. He could take a positive step along the road by beginning positive dialogue with the IRHA. It won't be solved by issuing dictates.