A third lane is to be added to the M1 in both directions to help traffic flow in the vicinity of the Port Tunnel in Dublin, it has emerged.
However, the extra lane on the southbound carriageway will not be open to traffic travelling towards the city centre before the tunnel itself opens next year.
Hugh Creegan, assistant PPP manager of the National Roads Authority (NRA), said the lanes will be added to the motorway in what is now the central median between the M50 interchange and the tunnel.
"We're doing a third lane in the northbound direction before the tunnel opening," said Creegan. The southbound lane, he added, will be "prioritised within the M50 upgrade contract within a short period of time."
It is believed this part will be completed in two years' time, while the full M50 upgrade project is to take four years.
"There may be a period of time when there will only be two lanes heading towards the tunnel," said Creegan. But he said when two lanes taking trucks into the port tunnel are opened "you're actually adding capacity."
The NRA said the extra lane on the M1 was always part of the M50 upgrade project. "It integrates the M50 and the Port Tunnel," according to Creegan who said the tunnel would be open to traffic by April next year.
The €810 million M50 upgrade will include a third lane in each direction for 31 km of the ring-road. The work was approved by An Bord Pleanála in April. It is hoped the widening and upgrading will reduce average travel time by 19 per cent by 2008 and 11 per cent by 2023.
The upgrade covers the distance between the M1 and Sandyford, with the provision of auxiliary weaving lanes between the M1 interchange and Scholarstown generally within the existing motorway boundaries.
The M50 upgrading also includes changes to 10 interchanges and the WestLink toll plaza will be upgraded to a fully electronic free-flow facility.
The final stretch of the M50 from Ballinteer to the Wexford Road is due to pen in the coming weeks, completing the controversial and traffic-clogged road.
As for the Port Tunnel, a number of weeks ago it was discovered that two steel bars were omitted from a "cut-and-cover" tunnel in Fairview Park.
"There was a failure in site supervision," said Tim Brick, the project director. "We had to cut out the concrete and put in the bars, but it didn't impact on the overall project or the 'critical path'", he added.
