On December 20th 2006, Dublin Port Tunnel officially opened as a dedicated route for Heavy Goods Vehicles between Dublin Port (located in the heart of the city) and the greater road network. It is part of the M50 motorway and completes the northern part of the C-Ring around Dublin city. Prior to the construction of the tunnel, all port-bound traffic was forced to travel through the city centre. The completed infrastructure now ensures that heavy goods traffic can be removed to a large extent from the streets of the city centre. The Tunnel is toll-free for Heavy Goods Vehicles and coaches over 25 seats. All other vehicles are charged between 3 and 12 euro depending on the time of day. In order to encourage maximum use of the Port Tunnel by port related traffic, Dublin City Council has introduced a Heavy Goods Vehicle Strategy. This strategy prohibits vehicles with five or more axles from entering the city cordon area between 07:00 and 19:00 daily. Any 5 or 5+ axle vehicle seeking to enter the city cordon within these hours must apply for a permit. Permits cost 5 euro per day for each vehicle entering the cordon and allow drivers to make five stops to deliver or pick up goods. Premises receiving deliveries using vehicles with five or more axles must register with Dublin City Council. The premises are obliged to submit mitigation plans to show how they intend to reduce the number of deliveries from five axles HGVs. This paper provides an initial evaluation of the Port Tunnel and the complementary HGV Management Strategy. The impacts to date in terms of traffic, environment and quality of life for the Dublin City are outlined. Furthermore, the future direction of the HGV Management Strategy for Dublin is assessed. For the covering abstract see ITRD E137145.
Abstract