What’s gone wrong with the M50 and can we fix it?

Too much traffic means motorway is no longer fit for purpose

Listen | 27:48
Traffic on Dublin's M50 at the M4 Junction. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Traffic on Dublin's M50 at the M4 Junction. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

The M in M50 stands for motorway – multiple lanes, fast speed limits and easy access to a network of national roads. More than 30 years ago it was designed as a modern piece of infrastructure to get the country moving.

Now for many motorists for long stretches of the day - it’s a car park.

So are there any quick fixes? Are more roads the answer, more tolls? Better public transport certainly is the key, but why is our infrastructure so dire that people who live in the ever expanding Dublin commuter belt have no other option but to get in their cars and drive?

The road that partially circles Dublin is congested and that’s the problem. There’s too much traffic on it. So what can be done to get it moving?

Brian Caulfield, professor in transportation at Trinity College Dublin, explains.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey with Andrew McNair.

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast

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