Eastern bypass, underground or overground

The feasibility study has been given to the minister for transport AFAIK. An underground 6 lane tunnel would be desirable. No this will be a motorway so there should be no tracks for Luas near it.

If this is built overground the required bridge at the estuary will become a loop line for Dublin bay, cutting off all views out to the Irish sea. Just imagine the devestation it would wreak to the east of the city

underground would be a preference…… the port tunnell would be half of it, pity they didnt build it big enough.

How about neither. :rolleyes:

Considering that Dublin Port will be closing within the next 15-20 years, I see no point in spending about €5b+ to get easier access to and from Dublin port from the M11-Sandyford direction.

The money would be better spent on Public Transport projects so we can get the cars (commuters) off the M50 and turn the motorway back to its original purpose which is the Dublin By-Pass. HGV’s can then use the M50 to get into Dublin Port via the existing tunnel until the port is closed down.

On the basis that the Eastern bypass would only be available to trucks, excepting cars paying a huge toll (as they do in Port Tunnel), I’d say this project is way down the list of priorities.
First things first is creating an actual outer bypass of Dublin. The M50 can never fulfil this role when the city’s biggest urban centres: Blanchardstown, Tallaght, Swords, Lucan all lie outside its boundaries. The M50 is – and always will be – a distributor road.

Agree that it is not & should not be a priority.

I think its more a baby of the NRA;
when grilled on pat kenny about exactly why the the port tunnel is located in the middle of the road, making the much maligned merge from the m50 necessary (which turned out not to be a problem) an nra enginner eventually muttered ‘thats because it will be the main road when the eastern bypass is constructed’, seemed to be the first kenny heard of it.

I can’t think of many benefits given the size of the project … a tunnel twice as long as the existing port tunnel would be requried. From the random mutterings the nra drop from time to time, i get the impression its basically intended to carry the m1 straight through to the m11 & not directly connect with the m50, i.e. complete the loop.

Half the route of the Eastern bypass will be overground, and the underground section is yet to be designed. The overground route is:

– From the M50 at the Sandyford interchange to nearly the Upper Kilmacud Road along the route of the already constructed access road; presumably all-purpose parallel roads will be constructed.
– Underground for a short section to get to a park South of Mount Annville Road.
– Under Mount Annville Road to run North of and parallel to it
– Under Roebuck Road
– North of and parallel to Foster Avenue
– Interchange with the N11

why not just fill in the bay or part of it? then put in as much roads, heavy and light rail as you want. we would have enough space for the expansion of dublin up until the next century. obviously there are certain environmental sacrifices but which is more important the marine environment or the countryside? either way both would be destroyed as a result of development. the countryside would probably suffer more as it would be extensive low density development as opposed to sustainable high density development covering a far smaller footprint in the bay. as for existing residents having their views spoiled, is it not reasonable that should the countryside be developed, people already living there would have theirs spoiled also? so which is more important?

the lack of zoned and serviced land in the dublin area was one of the contributors to its sprawl. this would be an opportunity to eliminate that problem. also the tiny 15% of arable land in ireland which is responsible for most of our food production is being rapidly eroded through dublins sprawl in north dublin, meath and kildare. is it a good idea to be developing this land given the fact that we know global warming will present problems to food production whether or not you think man has influenced it? no need for expensive tunneling or bridges. just build a barrier and fill it in with the rubble of all those horrendous semi d’s that blight the landscape!

i digress. many people would think this is a crazy idea but it would be regarded as a perfectly acceptable plan in the netherlands. (well maybe not all of it!)

does anyone else agree that Dublin was built in the wrong location ?

I would stick to the tunnel under the liffey and just infil the port

yeh Mash damn them feckin Vikings! Did they not know that the traffic’d be shite! It’s been the right location for over 1,000 years. piss poor planning for the last 50 does not make it the wrong location.

On a more serious note, the port has no future, and neither should this desperate, desperate scheme which refuses to sod off. We do not need a highway to serve the sea! The obsesion with “finishing” the orbital ring has become a fetish again despite everything. Os it may be acceptable in Dutch land but the state of our cycle lanes, the bus services, and our paltry rail system would not. Let;s sort them out first before even thinking about this big ball o’ nonsense

The motorway should be built overground ASAP. Dublin is sprawling north, west and south. Towns such as Gorey, Carlow, Athlone, and Monaghan are considered commuter belt.

Stop the madness and build sustainable communities close to the city centre. I don’t give a flying f…. about the ruined views of residents of D4 sandymount or some willie wag tail whose home is in Booterstown marsh. They don’t give a flying f…. about the destruction of the countryside or the fact that Mr & Mrs Joe Soap has to travel 70 miles in and out of the city each day

Build the road……..cost €5 Billion

Release the land bank…… approximately 900 acres @ modest value 10 million per acre.

Value of Public Land Reclaimed €9 Billion.

Build a futuristic modern eco city in the reclaimed land

And lose Dublin Bay? Stick in underground. At least for part.

Not all of Dublin Bay. Scheme would be half underground , half overground. Large part of Leopardstown race course would be CPO’d aswell.:)

I’m curious, can anyone tell me the engineering requirements for boring a tunnel under sandymount strand (ie because of the water factor) thanks.

@Andy O wrote:

I’m curious, can anyone tell me the engineering requirements for boring a tunnel under sandymount strand (ie because of the water factor) thanks.

The same as tunnelling anywhere – you’ll always be below the water table. It all depends on the geotechnical & geological properties of the soils & rock.

It could be built by building two tunnels then sinking them to the bottom of the sea as was done with the Limerick By pass. But really the only benefit this project would have, is for trucks, You can travel between Sandyford and the M1 already via the current M50 the eastern bypasss (Albeit a slightly longer journey). I really don’t see the benefits for the expenditure. Most likely that’s why it wasn’t included in Transport21. I think the the only reason it was proposed was because it looks cool on a map to have a full circle ring road.

Neither, Go get the Dart! :rolleyes:

Tis a stupid waste of money and it’s only a vanity project anyway. Some people would just prefer to see Dublin circled in blue on a map.

Does anyone really think that the port was actually the reason the tunnel was built?

It’s phase 1 of the eastern by-pass, the port is going to move out in phases over next 20 years.

maybe people actually believe Iraq had WMD also!