Jack Lynch Tunnel traffic chaos sparks review of closures

A review has been ordered into the management of day-time closures of the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork after urgent repairs caused traffic chaos at the weekend.

Jack Lynch Tunnel traffic chaos sparks review of closures

The city’s head of roads and transportation, Gerry O’Beirne, said the review would examine the impact of the weekend’s restrictions and aim to identify what changes could be introduced to improve future day-time restrictions.

He made his comments in a briefing document presented to last night’s city council meeting during which councillors criticised the timing and management of the bank holiday tunnel traffic restrictions.

Council chief executive Ann Doherty apologised to motorists for the disruption.

“Lessons need to be learned from this,” she said.

The tunnel’s north-bound bore was closed and a contra-flow system introduced in the south-bound bore from 8pm on Friday to allow repairs to the concrete frames around three manhole covers, and the replacement of the manhole covers, in the north-bound bore.

Failure to address the defects could be severe if not catastrophic, Mr O’Beirne said. The concrete needed 72 hours to reach the required strength to handle the tunnel’s traffic volume which prevented the usual night-time works, he said.

The works were advertised in the Irish Examiner, the Evening Echo, on local radio, on the council’s website, and text alerts were issued to people signed up to the tunnel’s traffic alert system, he said. The works were also flagged on seven temporary roadside signs and on 26 permanent roadside signs, he said.

He defended the timing of the work over the jazz bank holiday weekend, citing lower than normal traffic volumes.

While the tunnel handles up to 70,000 vehicles a day, traffic volumes for the 2013 October bank holiday weekend showed 47,000 vehicles on the Saturday, 38,000 on the Sunday and 43,000 on the Monday. The figures for other bank holiday weekends are relatively similar, he said.

But thousands of motorists were caught in four-mile 90-minute tailbacks across Saturday afternoon, and to a lesser extent on Sunday. Many took to Twitter to vent their fury and frustration over the lack of advance warning, lack of proper diversion signs, and over the decision to close the tunnel on one of the busiest weekends in Cork’s social calendar.

But Mr O’Beirne said the restrictions had worked successfully in the past.

“Unfortunately, whether due to unanticipated volumes or unanticipated peak flows, or other issues, there were significant tailbacks for road users, especially on the Saturday,” he said.

He did not say how long the review would take or when the results would be fed back to council.

The next routine maintenance work on the tunnel is scheduled for January 6.

x

More in this section

Lunchtime News

Newsletter

Keep up with stories of the day with our lunchtime news wrap and important breaking news alerts.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited