AN INITIAL EVALUATION OF DUBLIN PORT TUNNEL AND THE HGVMANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE CITY

摘要

On December 20th 2006, Dublin Port Tunnel was officially opened as arndedicated route for Heavy Goods Vehicles between Dublin Port (located in thernheart of the city) and the greater road network. It is part of the M50 motorwayrnand completes the northern part of the C-Ring around Dublin city. Prior to thernconstruction of the tunnel, all port-bound traffic was forced to travel throughrnthe city centre. The completed infrastructure now ensures that heavy goodsrntraffic can be removed to a large extent from the streets of the city centre. ThernTunnel is toll-free for Heavy Goods Vehicles and coaches over 25 seats. Allrnother vehicles are charged between 3 and 12 euro depending on the time ofrnday.rnIn order to encourage maximum use of the Port Tunnel by port related traffic,rnand to enhance the city centre environment, Dublin City Council hasrnintroduced a Heavy Goods Vehicle Strategy. This strategy prohibits vehiclesrnwith five or more axles from entering the city cordon area between 07:00 andrn19:00 daily. Any 5 or 5+ axle vehicle seeking to enter the city cordon betweenrnthese hours must apply for a permit. Permits cost 5 euro per day for eachrnvehicle entering the cordon and allow drivers to make five stops to deliver orrnpick up goods. Premises receiving deliveries using vehicles with five or morernaxles must register with Dublin City Council. The premises are obliged tornsubmit mitigation plans to show how they intend to reduce the number ofrndeliveries using five axles HGVs.rnThis paper provides a description of the Port Tunnel and the complementaryrnHGV Management Strategy. The impacts to date in terms of traffic and thernenvironment for Dublin City are outlined. Furthermore, the future direction ofrnthe HGV Management Strategy for Dublin is assessed.