DUBLIN Corporation has decided to postpone a final vote by the City Council on the controversial £130 million port tunnel project until after the forthcoming election, according to informed sources.
The matter was to have come up for decision at next month's council meeting, but it has been put off until July when the atmosphere would be less politically fraught and probably more favourable.
When the issue was last considered, councillors on all sides - especially those who will be standing as candidates in the general election - were notably reluctant to support the recommended route via Marino.
However, major changes in the scheme are being considered by the design team - including the possibility of relocating the northern portals of the tunnel from Whitehall to a point on the airport motorway north of Coolock Lane.
This would locate the portals near the Gateway 2000 computer plant, rather than near houses in Whitehall. However, any northward relocation of the portals would add significantly to the cost of the project, by some £30 million.
Other possible changes include relocating the southern portals in Fairview away from residential areas along East Wall Road and increasing the depth of the tunnel under Marino below its design average of 15 metres.
A spokesman for the Dublin Port Tunnel said no decision had been taken yet on any of these options. He said the design team - which includes corporation engineers as well as consultants from Ove Arup and Partners and the Austrian firm, Geoconsult - would be reporting their findings to the city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald.
The spokesman confirmed that 3,750 representations had been received following the public consultation process. Some 3,000 were submitted en bloc by the Combined Residents Associations.
The CRA, a coalition of community groups along the route, decided last week to "intensify pressure for support from all local politicians/candidates" in the two constituencies most directly affected, Dublin North Central and North West.
Candidates will be asked to sign a pledge supporting the aims and policies of the CRA on the port tunnel, and the results will be published in advance of the general election.
The CRA's position is that none of the six alternative routes proposed for the tunnel are acceptable on environmental grounds and it wants the City Council to reexamine an east west option, linking the port with the N4 Galway road.
