FEBRUARY 3rd is the deadline for making representations on the £130 million Dublin Port Tunnel, the most ambitious - and costly - road scheme in the history of the State. To go ahead, it needs the City Council's approval for a "variation" of the city plan, since no provision for a port access route was made in the current plan, which was adopted in 1991.
Since the beginning of November, maps illustrating six alternative routes for the proposed tunnel have been on display at the Civic Offices in Wood Quay and at local public libraries. Last month every household in the city - 170,000 in all should have received a newsletter from Dublin Corporation about the scheme, outlining its benefits to the port and the city as a whole.
To underscore its status as a city wide project, the exhibition is being taken to shopping centres around Dublin on Thursday and Friday evenings until the end of January. A detailed report on the public reaction, with a recommendation from the city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, is likely to be, presented to the City Council at its May meeting, with a final decision expected in June.