WATCH: "Significant" changes to Dunkettle Interchange as new link roads open this weekend

Drivers are being urged to take note of significant changes being introduced at the Dunkettle Interchange this weekend, as three key roads are being opened to traffic.

Motorists approaching the interchange through the Jack Lynch Tunnel or the M8, and wishing to head eastwards on the N25 towards Little Island, will no longer drive around the old Dunkettle Roundabout, but will navigate the interchange via three new link roads opening this Sunday.

The first link opening on Sunday is 'Link A', a new one-way route for traffic heading north through the Jack Lynch Tunnel, and wishing to access either Little island or the N25 Eastbound.

Dunkettle engineers say that this link is a “significant change in alignment” and motorists should now use the left hand lane when entering the Jack Lynch Tunnel, in order to access the new route once they exit the tunnel at the other side.

When Link A is opened on Sunday, drivers will no longer be able to access the N25 Eastbound via the Dunkettle Roundabout, as the old merge lane from the roundabout will be closed.

Two other links opening on Sunday will provide access from the M8 for those heading eastwards on the N25 in the Little Island direction. As the above mentioned merge lane from the roundabout will be closed, these two new links will be the only route for drivers on the M8 to access Little Island and the N25 Eastbound.

Link E is a new one-way route that will provide a free-flow link for southbound traffic on the M8 wishing to head east on the N25 or wishing to access Little Island.

Traffic on the new Link E will merge with traffic on the new Link A, and traffic driving on both new links can either merge onto the N25 Eastbound, or take a new route, Link G, to get to Little Island.

Link G, the third link opening on Sunday, will facilitate traffic from Link A and Link E that want to reach Little Island, via a one-way route to the Northern Roundabout of the new Eastern Interchange.

The €215m Dunkettle Project which is being delivered by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in partnership with Cork County Council and Cork City Council, is on track to be completed by February 2024.