Oversized trucks to evade city ban

THE plan to ban trucks from Dublin city centre will be blighted by problems and its “achilles heel” will be the inability of the port tunnel to cater for oversized trucks, according to a report.

The study, commissioned by Dublin City Council, on a permit system to police the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) ban has outlined a range of difficulties regarding the application, administration and enforcement of the move.

It suggests that in order to evade the ban, hauliers may be encouraged to use oversized vehicles or adapt their cabs so that they are too high to use the €750 million Port Tunnel.

Currently, less than 3% of trucks using roads are classed as oversized. However, the report states that “even a small number of these trucks create serious problems for the HGV strategy”.

The findings of the HGV Management Strategy report were adopted by city councillors last week and will come into effect from January 1, 12 months ahead of schedule.

As an exemption will have to be granted to trucks that are too tall to use the 4.65-metre high tunnel, it is considered that this will give them an advantage over regular vehicles and increase their appeal to hauliers.

The report said: “A more serious difficulty might be that, for the advantage of more flexible working in the city area, truckers might be tempted to convert existing five axle trucks to over-height vehicles by the addition of wind streamlining over cabs or such devices.

The report contends that “significant” numbers will attempt to evade the ban and avoid congestion on the M50, especially truckers destined for roads and industrial estates on the south side of the capital city.

These includes the country’s major road arteries the N7, N4, N81 and the N11.

Brendan O’Brien, from the council’s traffic section, said that the HGV strategy will be put in place in spite of the problems posed by oversized trucks.

“In an overall context of 4,500 trucks using the port, only about 200 trucks fit into this category.”

The Irish Road Haulage Association has resigned itself to a future that includes a HGV ban in Dublin city centre but its spokesman Jimmy Quinn said it should not be imposed until the surrounding road network is able to cope.