'Worth the pain' - Opening of new link roads at Dunkettle welcomed by Cork politicians

THE opening of six new link roads following a €215m overhaul of the Dunkettle Interchange has been welcomed as a positive move by a number of Cork politicians.

The opening of the Dunkettle Interchange project last Sunday morning has largely proved successful as Cork motorists continue to get used to the new layout.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Padraig O’Sullivan said the new layout has worked very well thus far. “I drove it a few times on Monday admittedly not at peak times and it worked very well. If there was a fierce hassle with it, I would have heard. It is also running away of schedule which is very positive. They do anticipate most of the heavy work will be done by the end of this year which will be great for everyone,” he said.

Deputy O’Sullivan said the completed Dunkettle project will help ease traffic congestion in places such as Glanmire and Little Island. “I anticipate there will be significant improvements not just going into the city but for places like Glanmire which is a bottleneck every day because of the Dunkettle works and the greenway. Little Island is the same with lots of traffic congestion. 

"A lot of this should be resolved when Dunkettle is fully opened.” 

Labour Party councillor John Maher appealed to drivers to continue to exercise caution. “You just need to drive with caution and be careful which is a given anyway no matter where you are driving. I have driven it myself through three different routes and I find it alright. It is new, different and you need to be prepared for it.

“It will be great for everyone when it is completed,” said Cllr Maher. “It will be worth the pain that people have been put through. It will make things a bit more efficient. It will all be good.” 

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Senior Engineering Inspector Jim McCarthy said the completion date for the project is on track for February 2024.

“The only date we can give for its full completion is February 2024.
"We are on track for that. There will be further link openings before the end of the year.” 

LINK ROADS 

Several link roads have opened since February 2022 when the first link road to open took M8 southbound traffic on a new route to the tunnel. Last year, three links opened in October 2022 along with four the following month. In February of this year, another link road into Little Island was opened.

As part of the link opening, the majority of the traffic lights at the Interchange Roundabout have been removed.

The light at the northwest corner of the Interchange Roundabout will remain in place for a number of months as this light is required to facilitate access to the works areas while the remaining links are completed.

Traffic on the N25 westbound wishing to head to the M8 northbound / Dublin, via the Tivoli / Glanmire Roundabout and free-flow Link U will be diverted. This temporary diversion will be in place until Link C opens to traffic later in 2023.

In the short term, Link M will also temporarily accommodate Little Island traffic wishing to access the M8 northbound. 

This route will be facilitated by the Tivoli/Glanmire Roundabout and free-flow Link U and will be in place until Link C and Link P opens to traffic later in 2023.