Vital link in Dublin's motorway by-pass due to open next month

A milestone in the building of the motorway by-pass of Dublin city will be achieved on August 7th with the opening of the Southern…

A milestone in the building of the motorway by-pass of Dublin city will be achieved on August 7th with the opening of the Southern Cross Route Motorway.

Part of the motorway by-pass for Dublin city, the Southern Cross Route will provide motorway access from the south Dublin suburbs to all major national routes out of Dublin.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the lead local authority in the construction of the motorway, says the road will help to dilute the heavy volumes of traffic "rat-running" (bringing children to school) between the southside suburbs and the Tallaght interchange at Balrothery.

The opening of the motorway will provide motorway access to all the national routes out of Dublin via the M50, making continuous motorway connections between Ballinteer and Kilcullen and Kilcock in Co Kildare, and Clonee in Co Meath, as well as Dublin Airport and the M1 Dublin-to-Belfast motorway.

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From August the motorway will be opened through the Tallaght Interchange and will travel via the Scholarstown interchange at Knocklyon.

Work on the Southern Cross route is coming to a close as work on the last section of the M50, the South Eastern Motorway from Ballinteer to the M11 at Shankill, is getting under way. The South Eastern Motorway is expected to be open in 2004.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist