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No instant traffic ease after M50 barriers removal

Thursday, 28 August 2008

MOTORISTS using the M50 have been advised to expect at least two months of “teething problems” when the barrier-free tolling system is introduced this weekend.
Just when drivers believed the bottleneck on the M50 would be a thing of the past, the National Roads Authority (NRA) has revealed that the situation will get worse before it gets better.
Disruptions will be caused by roadworks as the West-Link is dismantled and removed and by motorists coming to terms with the new toll system.
“It is not possible to introduce a large and complex system such as barrier-free tolling which will affect 100,000 users per day without some difficulties arising,” a spokesperson for NRA said.
“There will be ‘teething issues’ with the system, there will be a lack of familiarity for most users and there will be criticism from people who don’t want to change to the new payment methods.”
According to the NRA, problems that are likely to arise include: incorrect number plate details given for payment; incorrect reading of number plates by the system (expected to be very small but will occur); and tags not read by the system because they are not mounted correctly in vehicles.
“We ask that people are patient and tolerant during this start-up phase – we all need to recognise that there will be difficulties and everything will not be as smooth as we might all like it to be,” the spokesperson continued.
The dismantling of the West-Link will also inevitably cause further disruption. Demolition of the booths will get under way on August 30 and will take approximately nine weeks.
The work will be carried out on a phased basis. As part of the first phase of the works, the three booths furthest from the central reservation will be dismantled and replaced with a new road surface.
The second phase will involve the traffic being moved to four lanes while the central toll plaza is demolished. When this is completed, traffic will once again be moved to another four-lane system which will be its final configuration.
However, according to the NRA, motorists travelling north-bound will be hardest hit with M50 works.
“The improvement in the north-bound direction will be much more limited because of the upgrading works for the northern section of the M50 which commence just a kilometre north of the existing plaza at the N3 junction,” the spokesperson continued.
“Because of the nature of those works there will continue to be substantial queuing in the northbound direction due to these carriageway widening works.”

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