Dublin Tunnel

Dublin Tunnel
Tollán Átha Cliath

Location Map ( geo)

Entrance and exit portals

View gallery (21)

From:

Dublin Port

To:

Santry

Location

Dublin

County

Dublin

Highway Authority

Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Opening Date

2006

Cost

€752m

Toll

€3–€10
(free for lorries and buses)

Additional Information

Tunnel Type:	Bored
Length:	4500m (14764 ft)

On road(s)

M50

Crossings related to the M50 (Republic of Ireland)

West-Link Bridge • Firhouse Bridge

Dublin Tunnel (Tollán Átha Cliath) is a road traffic tunnel in Dublin that forms part of the M50 motorway. It is widely known as the Port Tunnel, including by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, who publicly use the abbreviation "DPT". Even so, authorities insist that the shorter name be used.

History

The tunnels were built primary to remove HGV traffic heading to Dublin Port from having to drive through Dublin, along the N1 or The Quays. As a result, it features an unusual charging structure, where HGVs can travel free but cars can be charged up to €10 (at peak times).

With a total length of 4.5 km it is, after the Southern Link (Södra länken) tunnel in Stockholm, Europe's second-longest urban motorway tunnel.

The route through the tunnel links Dublin Port, which lies to the east of the city centre, to Junction 1 of the M1 at Turnapin, close to Dublin Airport. Its northern portals are in the townland of Santry, some 1.5 km south of this junction.

The tunnel was officially opened on 20 December 2006, with car traffic being allowed to use it from 28 January 2007. The Dublin Transport Initiative for 1994 formally proposed a single carriageway, tolled tunnel be built, with provision for a second bore but "no commitment" to it being built. This followed the cancellation of the Liffey Crossing in 1992, which would have given Dublin Port access to the motorway network at North Wall.

In 2000, a motorway along the eastern side of Dublin was proposed again, but this time it would link up to the already-planned Port Tunnel. In 2007, that proposal was described as a "medium to long term objective". It was eventually cancelled in 2021, and will likely be built in a much scaled-back form.

As with all tunnels in Europe, a traffic management plan is in place to prevent stationary traffic building in the tunnel. This is especially important southbound, as Dublin Port has only a small amount of queueing space before the disruption will impact the tunnel. A number of new signs have been provided to warn traffic on the motorways of the risk of stationary traffic at the tunnel entrance.

One unusual feature of the tunnel is that only the northbound toll plaza is able to handle abnormal loads. As a result, when an abnormal load is travelling southbound, the northbound carriageway must be closed to allow the vehicle to cross over.