Promises promises

When construction work started on the Dublin Port Tunnel it was hailed as the panacea for the capital’s transport ills with promises that it would remove 9,000 HGVs from the city every day. Nine months short of completion and £171 million over budget, a different proposition is emerging. John Loughran reports.

Dublin City Council has the uncanny knack of shrinking everything that comes into its path. It shrunk the operating height at Dublin Port Tunnel to an unsatisfactory 4.65 metres, precluding oversize trucks and so-called super cube trucks from using it. Now it has reduced its prediction on how many trucks will actually use the tunnel every day.
The council has slashed its estimate by a staggering 22 per cent, claiming that only 7,000 HGVs will use the tunnel every day when it opens next April, rising to 9,000 in three or four years.

So what happened those 2,000 trucks? Apparently, if you are to believe a survey conducted by the council, they have switched their allegiances to the south port, no doubt frustrated with the daily torture of trying to enter and exit the north port, as a result of the ongoing work surrounding the tunnel.

Dublin City Council has always maintained that 98 per cent of the trucks entering and exiting the port would fit in the tunnel. It estimated that only 180 trucks per day wouldn’t fit and these would be “traffic managed” out of the capital on special HGV corridors.
This figure was hotly disputed by the Transport Umbrella Group, which operates out of the port, claiming the figure was 10 per cent and rising. This could go a long way to explaining the reasons why trucking activity in the south port has risen so dramatically.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the operators of oversize trucks are increasingly using the south port ahead of the opening of the tunnel. This would go a long way to explaining the increase in activity in the south port.

If this contention bears true, Dublin City Council is going to have some explaining to do to the Dublin public The council will have its work cut out explaining why some 2,000 HGVs will continue to access the Quays and the city centre when the tunnel finally opens.
The council is sticking to its 180 trucks estimate, and says that oversize trucks will be dealt with in the context of its HGV traffic management plan, which is still in the planning stages.

Under the plan it is proposed that lorries with five or more axles will be banned from the city centre from 7.00am to 7.00pm unless they have a permit, which will be issued on an “exception rather than rule” basis.
The Irish Road Haulage Association has rubbished this proposal, claiming that it does not legislate for the scores of foreign hauliers that use the port on a daily basis.

IRHA press officer Jimmy Quinn commented: “A permit system would be unique to Dublin among it peers in Europe and fails to take account of the large amount of foreign vehicles, which deliver into the city on a daily basis.”
He continued: “If every Irish truck driver heading for Europe needed a permit for every city he might deliver to on a weekly basis the permit requirement would run to hundreds. This would clearly be an administrative nightmare.”

While the final strategy document won’t be published until the autumn, the draft plan shows that major concerns have already been expressed about added congestion on the M50 motorway.
The interim report states: “Several submissions argued that the implementation of the proposed measures in the strategy is likely to exacerbate problems on the M50.” The report continues: “One respondent suggested that a strategy should not be implemented until the M50 has been widened and major junctions constructed as it is already stretched to capacity.”

However, the M50 upgrade, which is due to get underway later in the year will take five years to complete, so the prospect of Dublin City Council postponing the implementation of its HGV traffic manement system seem remote.
Immediate concerns centre on HGV traffic entering and exiting the tunnel via the M1 motorway. The M1 will be widened to three lanes ahead of the opening of the tunnel, but road safety experts are concerned about the positioning of entry and exit lanes.
The entry and exit lanes on the northern side of the tunnel will be located in the “overtaking” lane, which safety experts say is a recipe for chaos. In addition lorries exiting the tunnel will have just one kilometre of motorway to cross from the outside lane to access the M50 slip road.

However, Dublin City Council has dismissed suggestions that the new road layout will cause confusion. Spokesman Tim Brick commented: “There will be an extra lane on the M1 to the M50. We don’t anticipate any major congestion except during extreme peak times. We are happy that all lorries will be accommodated at all times.”
While there will be no toll charge for HGVs other motorists who use the tunnel will be charged prohibitively high tolls in an attempt to discourage them for using it as a “rat run” into the city centre.

Meanwhile, a debate is raging over whether cars and light commercials should be exempt from the toll. Motoring lobby groups such as the Autombile Association are claiming that the tunnel shouldn’t be tolled, as it is being constructed using public funds.
On the other side of the debate, the National Roads Authority says prohibitively high tolls will deter motorists from using the facility and keep the tunnel free for port traffic.

The haulage industry’s position on tolling the tunnel is somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand they are concerned that a mechanical tolling system would slow traffic flow through the tunnel. On the other hand they are afraid the port area will be clogged with non-port traffic if the tunnel isn’t tolled.

Hauliers are also afraid that the Department of Transport might consider selling the tunnel to a private firm in order to raise revenue for other badly needed infrastructure projects such as the proposed Eastern Bypass.
Once in private hands, the owners would be free to toll all classes of vehicle entering the tunnel. The inevitable consequence of such a move would see HGVs tolled for the privilege of using the tunnel.
While the Government could recoup all of its £50 million investment in the tunnel, its sale would not go down well at a time when the coffers are awash with money.

The Government is already under pressure from beleaguered motorists to buy back the West Link Bridge from operators National Toll Roads. Contemplating selling what is regarded as the jewel in Ireland’s burgeoning roads infrastructure, would be tantamount to political suicide.

The 4.5 km tunnel, which at some points is more than 20 metres below the surface, should be completed in December and, after safety checks will be opened by April of next year.