The National Roads Authority is proposing to levy a toll of £3 a car on motorists using the planned Dublin Port Tunnel during peak periods to ensure that it does not become congested by commuter traffic. The toll fee will drop to £1 a car in off-peak periods. However, at any hour of the day or night, trucks going to or from the port will have free access to the tunnel, which is primarily intended to cater for port-related traffic.
The NRA has submitted its tolling scheme to Dublin City Council for consultation and will have to consider any views expressed by councillors. However, under the terms of the 1993 Roads Act, the authority itself will make the final decision.
It was always envisaged that the port tunnel would be tolled. Four years ago, when the Government decided to go ahead with the scheme - doubling its capacity to a four-lane dual-carriageway - it was recognised that cars would have to be charged, otherwise the tunnel would become a fast-track commuter route in direct opposition to the Dublin Transportation Initiative's strategy.
Using an up-to-date computerised traffic model developed by the Dublin Transportation Office, the NRA calculated that a £3 toll would be sufficient to achieve the desired effect of discouraging use of the port tunnel by peak-time car commuters.
A toll booth plaza is to be constructed in the North Port, near the tunnel's southern portals. Motorists with electronic units in their cars will be able to pass through its automatic gates, paying their tolls on account at the end of each month.
The revenue raised is likely to be significant, given that the port tunnel should reduce substantially the volume of traffic through Whitehall from the current 45,000 vehicles a day. At the relocated tunnel portals, just south of the M1 interchange with Coolock Lane, ramps on either side will cater for traffic to and from the city centre. These ramps will eventually join to form a two-lane single-carriageway between there and Whitehall.
Mr Gerry Duggan, Dublin Corporation's project engineer, said road capacity would be reduced to a single traffic lane in each direction by the installation of quality bus corridors on Swords Road. This showed that the port tunnel would also enhance public transport.
Traffic congestion in the North Port - particularly on East Wall Road and North Wall Quay -- would also be alleviated by the tolling scheme and by associated plans to widen a section of East Wall Road and create a one-way system involving Sheriff Street.