Motorists using the M50 will be "terrifyingly vulnerable" to traffic gridlock and long tailbacks for the next six months during upgrade work on the motorway, Conor Faughnan of AA Ireland has warned.
Mr Faughnan was speaking after traffic jams on the M50 lasted for more than four hours yesterday morning due to new diversions at the Red Cow roundabout.
South Dublin County Council has apologised for traffic being brought close to a standstill on all approach roads to the interchange for several miles from about 6.30am until nearly 11am.
The council had told the contractors for the upgrade project to have all diversion signs and barriers in place by 6am. However, this work was not completed until 7am.
The traffic congestion was further compounded by frustrated motorists stopping on yellow boxes and blocking junctions, the council said.
"Unexpected delays in implementing the new local diversions and driver unfamiliarity with the diversion works led to severe congestion on the road network in the Clondalkin and Walkinstown areas," the director of transportation with the council, Frank Coffey, said.
The council, the Garda and the contractors would be reviewing the current arrangements and would take any additional steps necessary to minimise the inconvenience in future, Mr Coffey said.
However, he asked motorists to obey the traffic signals, not to block junctions and if possible to use alternative routes.
"The construction programme to build a free-flowing interchange at the N7 involves major roadworks and cannot be completed without some inconvenience to commuters and motorists. Road users should be aware of this and reschedule their journeys where possible, to take delays into account."
Mr Faughnan said the diversions were complicated and delays were to be expected on the first day, but these had been exacerbated by the contractor not having the diversions in place on time. "To be fair to South Dublin County Council, they are managing the upgrade with considerable skill, but this morning it went pear-shaped."
The traffic should ease as motorists get used to the diversions and the summer months should bring lighter volumes of traffic to the motorway.
However, Mr Faughnan said that once autumn arrives, any small traffic accident or errors in managing the motorway changes could again cause enormous traffic problems.
"Theoretically, there shouldn't be any significant increase in traffic, theoretically, but the M50 has house of cards stability and is terrifyingly vulnerable," he added.
"The slightest incident, such as a truck shedding its load, could cause major traffic delays and we could again be looking at enormous traffic volumes on the road."
While motorists are likely to be inconvenienced during the upgrade, the vulnerability of the M50 "proves why we desperately need the upgrade", Mr Faughnan said.
M50 Diversions
The western side of the N7 roundabout will be removed, which will affect both outbound traffic on the N7 and northbound traffic on the M50.
Drivers on the N7 wishing to travel north on the M50 will now perform a U-turn at the new traffic lights at the Luas car park and travel east on the N7 to access the M50 northbound via a ramp.
M50 northbound traffic heading towards the city will have to travel west on the N7 and perform a similar U-turn at the new lights before travelling east on the N7.
Monastery Road will be closed from the IBIS Hotel entrance on the N7 and traffic from Clondalkin will be able to access the N7 via the two-way Monastery Lane.
Pedestrians coming from Clondalkin will access the Luas from Monastery Lane, where they can cross the N7 at the traffic lights. The inbound bus stop at the IBIS Hotel will be relocated to Monastery Lane.
