The opening of the new €725 million Dublin Port Tunnel was delayed for several hours yesterday to allow its new operator Transroute to place traffic cones along the 4.5km length of both the north and southbound lanes.
The twin-bore tunnels were due to begin operating between noon and 1pm yesterday, but the northbound route from the port was not opened until nearly 3.30pm with the opening of the southern route from the M1 on the city's northside delayed until 4.15pm.
A spokeswoman said the delays were due to the new operator being "extra safety conscious" on the tunnel's first day and placing traffic cones throughout the tunnel in order to ensure lorry drivers, who would be unfamiliar with the tunnel, remained in the correct lanes.
The tunnel had been officially opened earlier yesterday by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
The first heavy goods vehicle (HGV) to use the tunnel entered from the port shortly before 11am and made a ceremonial journey down the north bore and back up the south in just over 10 minutes.
HGVs were the only vehicles to use the tunnel yesterday and will remain the sole users for the first three to four weeks of operations before cars are permitted to join the traffic flow.
The tunnel was designed specifically to remove HGVs from the city streets and has been made toll-free for lorries and buses.
Cars, however, will have to pay substantial tolls of up to €12 at peak traffic times in an attempt to ensure the tunnel does not become congested.
While the tunnel will be optional for HGVs for its first two months of operations, from February 19th lorries of five axles or more will be banned from Dublin city centre unless they have a delivery permit from the city council.
The tunnel, which took more than five years to build, was originally sanctioned 12 years ago. The intention to build it was first announced at a Dublin Chamber of Commerce event in 1993. However, speaking at the launch Mr Ahern said the delays in its completion should not be seen as negative."If there's not a 10-year row about a project, it's not worth doing," he said.
The tunnel was the "largest piece of infrastructure ever delivered in Ireland". It was the central element of the 1995 Dublin Transport Initiative (DTI) and had been successfully completed in spite of "begrudgers" who said the DTI report would be left to gather dust, Mr Ahern said.
Several groups, including the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) and Opposition parties, have raised concerns about the impact the tunnel will have on the already congested M50, particularly after the lorries are banned from taking routes across the city centre. Mr Ahern conceded that there were "some problems" with the M50 but he said they were being tackled in a "very determined way".
Lord Mayor of Dublin Vincent Jackson said the tunnel would remove the "incessant cargo traffic from the city streets". The city council's ban on HGVs not making deliveries to the city was a "fair solution for all the various interests in the city".
IRHA spokesman Jimmy Quinn said there were serious concerns about traffic management at the northern end of the tunnel. Lorries leaving the tunnel for the M50 had just 1km to get into the left lane, which would be problematic in heavy traffic.
At the entrance to the tunnel there was a danger of weaving between lorries and cars with cars going to the right and trucks changing into the left lane to enter the tunnel.
