North ring road must be developed to keep traffic flowing in Cork City

The city must have a full orbital route especially to mitigate the possible chaos if the Jack Lynch Tunnel is hit with long-term disruption

MEP Billy Kelleher said the Jack Lynch tunnel is effectively the only route that allows traffic to go north and south, given the move away from through-traffic in Cork city due to lack of capacity. File picture: Eddie O'Hare

The Government must urgently develop the north ring road to avoid traffic standstill in Cork City in the event of a major Jack Lynch Tunnel closure, a Cork MEP has said.

Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has said that the South Ring Road is under “huge pressure” due to the volume of traffic, and a northern ring road is needed to ensure Cork City remains competitive.

The proposed Cork north ring road project has been stalled for a number of years, with the proposal having initially been included as part of Project Ireland 2040.

Mr Kelleher said there is a need for Cork City to have a full orbital route, citing the possible chaos if the Jack Lynch Tunnel is hit with long-term disruption.

“In the event of it being closed for maintenance, or there could be a catastrophic event like an accident or something, then it would be really problematic for the region,”  Mr Kelleher said.

“For example, you could have an event where you have an accident in the tunnel. You could have something that could close the tunnel for a number of days, that could be a chemical spillage, it could be a fire on a vehicle. It could be anything.”

If the tunnel is closed only for a matter of hours now, it has a major impact on the flow of traffic north south.

Mr Kelleher said the Jack Lynch tunnel is effectively the only route that allows traffic to go north and south, given the move away from through-traffic in Cork city due to lack of capacity.

He added that a new northern ring road would provide an alternative to motorists into the long term.

“I think that planning without the north ring road is highly irresponsible for the long-term strategic development of the region and the city,” Mr Kelleher said.

A new route for the proposed ring road is yet to be identified, with the project remaining at pre-planning stages.

Mr Kelleher said he believes the road should go from the Glanmire bypass, link up with the Mallow road, continue towards Clogheen and into Ballincollig.

Include road in revised National Development Plan

The Ireland South MEP said he hopes new transport minister Darragh O’Brien will fight for the road’s inclusion in a revised National Development Plan, which is due to be unveiled this summer.

“I hope that they are looking at it based on the merits of the proposal and the fact that we were progressing this in 2005, 2006, 2007 in advance of the economic downturn.

“It was identified as a key piece of infrastructure and the idea that, because we have the Dunkettle Interchange, that we no longer need an alternative north-south road, it is simply unacceptable and it doesn’t stack up under any scrutiny.”

He said the project is required to encourage development of the northside of Cork City and to get more people onto public transport and into electric vehicles.

“The idea that we would start encouraging people to move from their car, from their diesel or their combustion engine car, into an electric car and still sit in traffic, in my view, makes no sense.”