A “military-style” operation is to be put in place to keep traffic moving in Dublin City this weekend, as major sporting events at the Aviva and Croke Park coincide with the closure of city quays and O’Connell Bridge to facilitate Luas works.
In the city centre, Dublin’s north and south quays are closed to eastbound and westbound traffic at O’Connell Bridge until 6am on Tuesday.
There was added congesion on the M50 around lunchtime Saturday following a collision between a truck and multiple cars.
All lanes have reopened before Junction 13 Dundrum on the M50 but emergency services remained in the hard shoulder Saturday afternoon.
The collision took place on the M50 southbound between Junction 12 Firhouse and Junction 13 Ballinteer, causing delays back to Junction 11 Tallaght after the left lane and hard shoulder were blocked.
Northbound traffic was reported to be moving well.
Gardaí issued fresh advice on Saturday to motorists, saying anyone travelling to attend fixtures in either Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium should avoid the city centre.
To access Croke Park, gardaí said motorists should travel on the M50 exiting the M50 at Junctions 6 (Blanchardstown), J5 (Finglas), J4 (Ballymun) or J3 (M1).
Exiting at Junction 7 (Lucan) to access the city centre by the N4 should be avoided, gardaí said.
To access the Aviva Stadium, travel M50 southbound exiting the M50 at Junction 14 Sandyford.
Motorists intending accessing Dublin city centre from the N4 or N7, inside the M50 boundary, can expect heavy delays due to the traffic restrictions and should avoid the area and consider alternative routes, gardaí added.
On Saturday, the action at Croke Park starts at 2pm with the All-Ireland minor football championship quarter final between Donegal and Cork.
At 4 pm, the same counties face each other in the senior football qualifiers, while Mayo play Westmeath at 6 pm.
Saturday also sees the Celtic versus Barcelona match in the International Champions Cup at Aviva Stadium, with fans taking their seats from about 5pm for a 6pm kick-off.
On Sunday, Croke Park will host another football triple-header with the minor clash between Kerry and Derry throwing in at 12 pm, followed by Kerry vs Clare - the first of two senior qualifiers - at 2pm and Galway vs Tipperary at 4pm.
There will be added congestion around Smithfield where the Hotter Than July festival takes place between 3pm and 9pm.
The Luas Cross City project office said the track laying on O’Connell Bridge “will undoubtedly cause significant traffic delays” with “major traffic diversions” in the city centre.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said “industrial sized” tow trucks will be in operation to ensure traffic keeps moving and access to city centre car parks is maintained.
There will be free car parking at all Dart, short-hop commuter rail and Luas park and ride sites throughout the weekend. Additional Luas and Dart services will be laid on and children will be carried for free on all bus, rail and Luas services in the Dublin area, once they have a valid Leap Card.
A TII spokesman said the bank holiday weekend had been chosen to lay tracks across O’Connell Bridge as it was traditionally the least-trafficked weekend in Dublin City Centre. He said motorists approaching the capital will be advised of closures and diversions in the city through overhead electronic signage, on all motorways.
The spokesman said the Garda, TII and the National Transport Authority, the city council and public transport operators were all working together to reduce the impact. “You could call it a military-style” operation he said.
Dublin City Council will be operating its Radio Station, 103.2 FM, broadcasting live from the Traffic Control Centre on Saturday from 1pm to 7pm and on Sunday from 1pm to 6pm, providing up-to-date traffic information.
Q&A: Luas Cross City works
What work being done?
The track laying across O’Connell Bridge is nearing completion - Luas now needs to extend those tracks across the North Quays and into O’Connell Street and across the South Quays to connect to Westmoreland Street.
The work involves excavating the trench for the concrete slab that supports the Luas tracks, placing the steel reinforcement that forms part of the track support slab, positioning the two rails and pouring the concrete for that track support slab. The concrete has to be allowed to harden sufficiently for traffic to be allowed back over the area, which will take about 24 hours. Crews will be working around the clock during this weekend closure to complete these essential works.
Why this weekend?
The work cannot be completed in a normal two day weekend - a three day closure period is required. During the month of August, traffic movement in Dublin is at its lightest and there are long hours of daylight to facilitate both the physical works and the easier diversion of traffic.
Was there an alternative ?
Crossing the two quays in smaller increments would incur major traffic restrictions on both the north and south quays over a nine week period.
What are the consequences for people trying to access the city this weekend?
Full details are available on the Luas Cross City website. In addition, Dublin City Council will be operating its Radio Station 103.2 broadcasting live from Traffic control centre on Saturday from 1pm to 7pm and on Sunday from 1pm to 6pm, providing up-to-date traffic information.
When will the project be completed and is it on schedule?
The Luas Cross City is on schedule to be completed at the end of 2017.
What is the final cost of the project expected to be?
The overall cost of the Luas Cross City project is €368 million.
