Dublin has taken another crucial step towards acquiring an Eastern Bypass motorway with the publication yesterday of a revised environmental impact study (EIS) of the proposed port tunnel. The tunnel, to be built between Dublin Port and the M1 motorway at Coolock Lane, is widely seen as the first phase of an Eastern Bypass, which would cross Sandymount Strand to link up with the proposed South Eastern Motorway.
Dublin Corporation has also published a draft motorway order for the port tunnel, showing all of the property - both on the surface and underground - which will have to be compulsorily acquired to facilitate this scheme, now costed at £179 million.
The tunnel is the most expensive road infrastructure project planned in the Republic. And because of the controversy it has generated among residents, particularly in Marino and Santry, it is already substantially behind schedule.
Work on the 5.6 km route was supposed to begin last year and finish in 2001, but is now expected to start in spring 2000, with "late 2003" as the anticipated completion date. Major design changes have added £30 million to the cost.
The biggest change involves a 1 km extension of the tunnel northwards from Whitehall to Coolock Lane, in line with the wishes of Dublin City Council when it decided last September to incorporate the scheme in the city plan.
In an effort to reassure residents of Marino, who have been waging a vigorous campaign against the tunnel, the engineers have also decided to build it at a greater depth beneath houses to minimise noise disturbance during construction.
Mr Gerry Duggan, the project engineer, said the extended tunnel from Whitehall to just south of Coolock Lane would be done as "cut and cover", involving the excavation of a 1 km trench 17 metres wide and 20 metres deep - right in the middle of the M1 motorway. According to the current timetable, objections to the motorway must be lodged by August 17th. The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, would then direct that a public inquiry be held, probably next January, before deciding whether to approve the scheme.
The National Roads Authority is proposing to levy a toll of £3 per car on motorists using the port tunnel during peak periods to ensure it does not become congested by commuter traffic. Trucks will have free access.
