Upgrade works will see partial closures at Cork's Dunkettle interchange next week

Sat, 16 Sep, 2023 - 14:49

Donal O’Keeffe

The Dunkettle interchange will see partial closures next week as upgrade works near completion.

Tuesday night saw the opening of the new N40 to M8 northbound free flow link road, connecting the Jack Lynch Tunnel to the M8 northbound.

Works on the interchange are set to continue next week, with minor modifications due to be carried out to the N40 approach to the new link.

The works will be completed during scheduled night-time full tunnel closures of the N40 northbound, which will occur from 9pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next week (September 19-21), reopening each time at 5am on the following morning.

To facilitate the completion of works on the western side of what was formerly the Interchange roundabout, N40 traffic heading for the N25 eastbound will be slightly realigned to the east from Monday.

Night-time closures of the N25 westbound will continue into next week until all N25 westbound lanes are fully opened to traffic.

Works are also ongoing on site for the completion of Link K and Link M alongside the N25 westbound.

Link K will provide a new free-flow link for N25 westbound traffic wishing to access the Jack Lynch Tunnel, while Link M will accommodate Little Island traffic wishing to access the N25 westbound.

The Dunkettle Interchange became free-flow earlier this year, with the traffic lights which had previously controlled the flow of traffic deactivated and six link roads opened.

Works had been ongoing on the interchange for more than 18 months, causing disruption to traffic, particularly on the N25 side of the junction.

The Dunkettle Interchange handles over 100,000 vehicle movements a day on the main approach routes to Cork City from Dublin and Waterford.

Motorists are reminded that speed control measures remain in place across the site in order to ensure the safety of the workers on site and also of road users.