Motorists using Dublin's notorious Red Cow interchange on the M50 motorway appear to be coping well with major changes at the junction, according to motoring body AA Roadwatch.
The changes are part of an upgrade of the roundabout - known colloquially as the 'Mad Cow' - to a spaghetti junction-style interchange.
AA Roadwatch said today that traffic was moving well on the N7/Naas Road approaching the Red Cow. M50 southbound traffic was also moving well.
The National Roads Authority said the changes mean the N7 eastbound to M50 southbound and northbound traffic will have two lanes at the Monastery Lane junction traffic signals.
The N7 eastbound to the city and Luas traffic will also have two lanes at the traffic lights.
"City traffic will be directed on to a new free-flow over-bridge link from where they will merge with the main N7 inbound traffic," said a spokesman.
Traffic at the Red Cow M 50 roundabout, during a pause in construction of a wider M 50. A new traffic flow management system is to be unveiled today. Photograph: Alan Betson. Photograph: Alan Betson.
"This traffic will no longer have to stop at traffic lights at Monastery Lane which will be closed for inbound traffic.
"Monastery Road vehicles to the M50 southbound and northbound will also be directed on to a new permanent free-flow over-bridge link from where they will access the motorway," the spokesman added.
The M50 northbound traffic will have to travel southbound and U-turn at the new Ballymount Junction until the new northbound free-flow slip road under construction comes into operation, he said.
A spokeswoman for the NRA said later that the traffic movement was "fine so far" on the interchange.
"The improved signage appears to be working. There are about six signs between Newlands Cross and the Red Cow and they are supplemented by improved road markings," she added.
Motorists were highly critical of the signage and layout at the junction in recent months, with some people claiming they had been forced miles out of their way due to being inadvertently in the incorrect lane.
The NRA spokeswoman said advertisements and media coverage had helped smooth the transition to the new layout yesterday and today.
She highlighted particularly the changes to the Monastery Road junction, saying this was the "major change" in the layout.
""This morning it's been fine and the traffic seems to have moved fairly well. Some people were saying that a lot of people were changing lanes, but that's down to driver behaviour. We would ask people to exercise patience and to desist from lane-jumping."