Tivoli docks redevelopment to see new road from Jack Lynch Tunnel

The Port of Cork compiled a masterplan for this vision and is now providing city council planners with more detailed information on it.

The Port of Cork is planning to build a new road from the Jack Lynch tunnel into the Tivoli docklands to open up that area for major redevelopment when it's decommissioned as a cargo-handling terminal.

Port of Cork chairman John Mullins said it is envisaged all container loading and unloading will be transferred from Tivoli by the summer or autumn of next year to Ringaskiddy, where there has been a €100m upgrade of facilities.

He said the Port of Cork is working closely with Cork City Council on plans it has to turn the Tivoli docklands area into a mixed-use development of housing, offices and retail outlets.

The Port of Cork compiled a masterplan for this vision and is now providing city council planners with more detailed information on it.

Mr Mullins said before that can be enacted, the Port of Cork will have to come to an arrangement with some of the tenants to move them off the Tivoli site, especially companies such as Calor and Flogas.

The Port of Cork is involved in a joint venture project to redevelop the former 114-acre IFI site at Marino Point, near Cobh with Wexford-based Lanber Holdings. 

It is believed a number of companies involved in oil, agri-feed, and fertilisers are anxious to locate there once it's redeveloped.

There has been some speculation that gas companies located in Tivoli might transfer to Marino Point.

However, Mr Mullins said while it is up to them, he feels it is more likely they would see Whitegate as a better option because of gas-handling facilities there.

“It will probably be in the mid-decade before anything happens in earnest in Tivoli,” Mr Mullins said.

He pointed out that connectivity to the Tivoli site is vital so it will be a sustainable development.

To this end the port authority, he said, is hoping to build a road from the Jack Lynch tunnel directly to the site. 

The Cork-Midleton/Cork-Cobh railway line also runs through it and it is expected a commuter railway station will be built there as part of the overall development, along with cycleways, walkways and a number of electric car charging points.

Mr Mullins said that he expected all port operations to be handled in Ringaskiddy by the end of next year.

The port is to operate a new container and roll-on/ roll-off terminal at Ringaskiddy East by creating an additional 200m-long berth. 

It also plans a container yard and marshalling area there.

At Ringaskiddy West, the plan is to extend the existing deepwater quay by 180m and carry out dredging works to enable larger vessels to get to it.

It is hoped the additional facilities will enable the Port of Cork to nearly double its container throughput by 2033.