Cork's Jack Lynch Tunnel revamp set to be disruptive

It will be “challenging” to prevent major disruption for commuters during the €100m upgrade of the busiest road junction outside Dublin, admits Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

TII spokesman, Sean O’Neill, said that the revamp of the Jack Lynch Tunnel/Dunkettle interchange will also require notifications to motorists, when work starts on the project in 2019.

The junction is at over-capacity. 100,000 vehicles use it each day.

Mr O’Neill said engineers will do everything in their power to ensure diversions are kept to a minimum, but emphasised that this will be tricky, because the junction is the intersection that links a number of key national routes — the Cork-Dublin M8, Cork to Waterford N25 and Southern Ring Road N40 through the Jack Lynch Tunnel.

Mr O’Neill confirmed that TII is hoping to put the project out to tender this year and to start construction by 2019. He said it could take up to three years to complete.

The signalised roundabout at the northern end of the tunnel will be removed for total free-flow; and a dedicated slip road will be built on the city side of the tunnel, so traffic can directly access the northbound lanes of the M8.

The plan also involves creating a number of dedicated local access roads around the junction, thus separating local journeys from regional and national ones.

Land has already been acquired for the creation of the local access roads. Work will be carried out this year to fence it off.

The project is particularly vital to the Munster economy.

The upgrade will especially benefit the Port of Cork, which is to expand its cargo-handling terminal at Ringaskiddy in the years ahead.

This will also require a major upgrade of the Cork-Ringaskiddy road, which has also been approved by the Government.