Sir, - There has been extensive publicity recommending alternative routes on Dublin's Northside to lessen the traffic disruption caused by construction work on the Dublin Port Tunnel in the Whitehall area. These routes have also been well signposted.
However, yesterday I found each of these alternative routes severely restricted by on-going or new roadworks resulting in ridiculous delays. The route south from the Airport via the M50 extension/Malahide Road was in chaos because of construction at the roundabout on Malahide Road. The extension road itself is now narrowed to accommodate bus lanes, but in 55 minutes not one bus passed me by. A fair number of taxis, one private school bus (empty) and one minibus were the only legal users of the lane.
The Santry route was no better with roadworks outside the stadium, while the Ballymun alternative was a complete mess, as it has been for several months due to pipe-laying. Yet another of these so-called alternative routes, Botanic Avenue, is now being dug up. None of this work could be taking place without the permission of the relevant local authorities - Fingal County Council and Dublin Corporation.
Why bother going to the considerable expense of advertising and marking alternative routes to avoid The Port Tunnel Project and then systematically block them? We've all known for quite a while now the expected schedule and side-effects of this project.
Do the road engineering sections of the local authorities have the remotest idea of what's going on their respective patches? - Yours, etc.,
David Reddy, Durham Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4.