Cost of not raising tunnel ‘to be €76m’

FAILURE to raise the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel will cost €76million in lost working time and accidents over 15 years, according to a report commissioned by a pressure group pushing for a height increase.

But the National Roads Authority, which is vehemently opposed to any change in plan that would delay work on the tunnel, said the figures produced by the Transport Umbrella Group needed to be scrutinised carefully. They were highly suspect figures, said one senior NRA member.

The report, by economists from Trinity College, stated that if so-called 'supercube' container trucks were forced to travel through Dublin city centre, the cost over 15 years from accidents, fatalities and injuries, would be €51m and lost working time would be €25m.