Extra tolls on M50 ruled out by Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe

Additional tolls on the M50 have been ruled out by Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe as a method of counteracting congestion .

Motorists using the route are now regularly facing congestion as a combination of the economic recovery and drivers seeking to avoid routes through the city add to usage of the orbital route.

A report into demand management options on the M50, carried out on behalf of the National Roads Authority, suggested multiple-point tolling and new variable peak-time pricing would be the best way to deal with the increased traffic volumes.

The report, published last year, found that congestion on the orbital route will be “commonplace” within eight years without it.

However, this option has been ruled out by the Minister who said he was confident that a number of new public transport projects would significantly reduce congestion on the M50.

“Luas Cross City will make a very big impact in terms of reducing M50 congestion. That link will offer a cross-city access route. Someone will be able to go from Phibsboro to Dundrum in 30 minutes.”

Extra journeys

Mr Donohoe said estimates from the Rail Procurement Agency suggested that the new linked Luas lines would result in an extra 10 million journeys annually, bringing the total from 30 to 40 million.

The second short-term response, according to the Minister, is the modernisation of the bus fleet and signalling works by Irish Rail to allow the frequency of trains to the city centre to increase.

Asked if he would consider additional tolling on the M50 if the public transport measures failed to adequately curb congestion, the Minister responded: “I believe it will be effective and I am confident it will be.”

At the end of last year average weekday usage of the M50 was at 320,000 journeys, with approximately 120,000 users passing through the toll.

The majority of users of the M50 travel between one and two junctions, suggesting that part of the M50 traffic pattern is drivers navigating congested parts of the city.

Mr Donohoe said if the current traffic patterns remain unchanged, medium to long-term traffic modelling showed that by 2023 Dublin city would need “an additional 40 high-rise buildings for parking places. Clearly that is extremely unlikely to happen. That is why I place an awful lot of store by the north Dublin rail plan and public transport.”

The demand management options report was carried out by consultant engineers Roughan O’Donovan and the Aecom Alliance, on behalf of the NRA.

Planning condition

Carrying out the report was a planning condition of a €1 billion M50 upgrade, and its final version strongly favours tolls to help avoid renewed congestion.

The final version of the report, which included feedback from the four councils through which the M50 passes – Dublin city, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown – calls for extra tolling points and increased toll charges at peak times.

The report, published in April last year, notes traffic volumes on some parts of the route have increased by 25 per cent since 2010. It found that by 2023 more than 40 per cent of the route will have congestion at peak times.

Along with longer journey times, this increased congestion is already leading to more collisions, the report found.

Additional capacity cannot be added to the M50 as there is no land adjacent to the route on which to place a fourth lane.