The Dublin Community Blog

The Port Tunnel is reported to be closed all day and into rush hour tonight due to problems discovered with the Scada safety system this morning. This system seems to be responsible for all the safety features in the tunnel so any problems with it pretty much wipe out all the safety mechanisms in the tunnel.

As a result of this you can expect heavy goods vehicles in the city this evening adding to rush hour traffic jams just a day after massive delays caused by the temporary closure of Pearse St due to an unsafe building in Trinity. You may want to consider working late this evening

Anyone who commutes to work in and around Dublin will be all to familiar with the traffic jams, crowded trams or trains and delayed buses. They will also know the reason many people choose to drive to work is that there is no reliable, or in many cases simply no, public transport that they can use. The Dept of Transport today released a consultation document asking for input on the future of travel and transport in Ireland with large sections related to the vision of transport in Dublin by 2020. Improved public transport, more emphasis on cycling and walking,  and the possibility of congestion charging.

This document can be downloaded here and will be well worth a read by anyone who sees themselves still facing into the long commute to work in Dublin by 2020.

A couple of weeks ago, I joined the L-driver brigade and started driving lessons in Dublin. I’m happy to report that all is well so far, although Dublin traffic seems so much worse when one is actually behind the wheel! I’ve been given some really useful advice and tips, which I thought I would share here for any aspiring Dublin drivers to see.

- It ain’t cheap. Expect to pay in the region of €40 per one hour lesson. Some driving schools offer discounts for blocks of lessons booked in advance, so shop around!

- Even if you own a car, it’s a good idea to take your first few lessons in the driving school’s (dual controlled) car. (This proved especially useful for me as my first lesson was in rush hour traffic!)

- Expect the unexpected, even from day one. My first lesson took me all over the north city centre which panicked me at the time, but from chatting to friends I’ve found that this seems to be a common practice. Some instructors even go so far as tackling O’Connell Street in the first lesson.

- Keep an eye on driving test waiting times. At the moment, there’s a wait of about 15 weeks in Finglas and 21 in Raheny, for example, but these are bound to increase somewhat in advance of the changes in law taking effect on July 1st.

- Find somewhere quiet to practise driving outside of your lesson time. The Dublin Industrial Estate in Finglas and Airside Industrial Estate in Santry were recommended to me as both have lots of quiet roadways, car parks and are generally pretty deserted on weekends.

Happy driving! And for all you fully licensed drivers out there, feel free to add any other useful information in the comments

So much for Operation Freeflow! Nothing much flowed around the Point Depot this morning after a truck overturned. This happened at 5.30am, yet it took a full 6 hours for the truck to be removed and caused total gridlock out as far as the airport. How can one incident have such a drastic affect on city traffic?

More info here:
eircom.net
RTE

Dublin Fire Brigade and the army bomb disposal unit are at the scene of a fire at gates of the Phoenix Park. A pit of chemical phosphorous was exposed on a building site on Infirmary Road. The site used to be part of a military base, I wonder if it is an old British one with phosphorous buried there since World War I? The fire is out now but there is still a risk that more phosphorous could ignite. Traffic in the area is being diverted through the Phoenix Park.

If anyone is in the area with a camera they might get some cool and interesting photographs, if they can get a view of the site, but don’t do anything silly, phosphorous is dangerous.

Thankfully, I rarely have to endure Dublin traffic nowadays, and in fact, as I’m shooting up the motorway in the opposite direction to all the commuters, I regularly take (guilty) pleasure in listening to the traffic reports on the radio. But I would love to know what the deal is with the past two days. By all accounts it’s been completely manic out there, and I’m just wondering if any ideas what has led to traffic being so crazy around the city this week?

I’m having a yellow box rage day today. It just amazes me that motorists continue to ignore yellow boxes and stop in the middle of them. This morning on my way into work sitting on the bus at the junction of James St and Thomas St the Luas had to stop because some idiot motorist had stopped in the yellow box. Then ensued manic reversing of a line of cars/buses/vans. Comical watching really – except its downright dangerous driving. At lunchtime at the Halfpenny Bridge Liffey St side a truck and a car were parked in the middle of the yellow box making it difficult for pedestrians to walk across – especially those with prams.

I’m sure our readers are all responsible motorists, fully aware of all road rules, but if your interested, the new version of the Rules of the Road is available online on the Road Safety Authority website. Page 104 details correct Yellow Box behaviour – extract below.

I feel like printing that out on sticky paper and sticking it on the windscreen of all offenders! Theres a list of penalty points here, but I’m not sure which offence yellow box ignorance comes under.

Rant over

Dublin Port Tunnel today opened its doors so to speak to all traffic. Up to now, it had been limited to HGV’s only, but from today, all vehicles are allowed to access. There is still no charge for HGV’s, however, cars etc will be tolled, with a toll fee ranging from EUR 3 – EUR 12 depending on the direction you are travelling and the time of day that it is. More details on the charges can be found here

Let us know if you’re planning on using the tunnel in your car via our poll over there >>>

I recently spent some time in India and in most towns/cities the primary mode of transport is autorickshaw, aka tuk tuk. Their average speed is 30mph and their triangular shape at the front and handlebar steering allow for easy manoeuvring in traffic. With obvious modifications like doors and seatbelts, I think these could work really well in Dublin, especially on a Saturday night! What do ye think?

AA Roadwatch is reporting that the northbound bore of the Port Tunnel is closed “until further notice” due to a breakdown. This is at least the second time the tunnel was closed this week due to a breakdown, I heard another one reported on the radio earlier in the week.

I have to ask, is this normal? In major traffic tunnels in other countries does the whole bore get closed when a breakdown occurs. Also I realise that the tunnel is for trucks which are big and difficult to move when they breakdown but surely a suitable tow truck could be located at the tunnel allowing them to clear the tunnel quickly so that warnings like “until further notice” would not be needed?

Update: The bore is open again.