N8/N25/N40 - Dunkettle Interchange [open to traffic]

It's amazing how quickly people forget what it was like before with all the traffic lights

I'd say the best help would be if they turned the road by Kearys/Costa into a 2+1 layout (you'd have room by taking some of the footpath/grass area on either side). It morphs into 2+1 after the roundabout by KFC anyway so you'd just be extending that further.

Slowing the traffic coming from Golf club/church area down to the main roundabout getting on to n25 would help too but I feel that still likely ends up with traffic backing up in Eastgate as people will just queue on the Kearys one if traffic starts backing up there.

Yeah that makes sense although would they want to reduce elements of non-car travel methods? That would help alright, its the one area that's very blocked in.

Google Earth has kindly overlaid the final plan on the 2022 map for people like me, not too familiar with the various links;

Even if you didn't want to take footpaths or all the grass, you can easily eat into the carpark there, and just shift things over. Would be a benefit for the environment in general imo as less cars stuck stationery.

For the love of God , would they ever finish link B , the tunnel to city slip road. This in my opinion should have been one of the first links to open. If you consider than the outside lane of the tunnel heading north is the slowest every single day , with traffic for the slow passage of cars backing up beyond Mahon , wouldn't it make sense to encourage a faster flow of traffic through the tunnel via this proposed improved alignment rather than the acute bend that's been there for ages . I see no good reason why this has been deliberately delayed . Maybe they are waiting to open it at the same time as link D , tunnel to M8 , to have the maximum improvement effect of traffic moving north through the tunnel ??

The idea that you'd put in more infrastructure to get cars in and out of Eastgate... I'm trying to be polite here so please bear with me, but just...I think that's not a good idea, basically. I really don't think more car lanes in Eastgate is going to cut it, and they only finished the last "more room for cars in Eastgate" project 3 and a bit years ago, where they took space away from pedestrians. At a certain point, "more cars" is not a viable transport strategy. Little Island reached that point long ago, and Eastgate in particular has long since reached that point.

Eastgate must be well over 70% single-car occupancy commuters. It's right next to a rail line and has a part of a bus route through it. The next thing to happen in Eastgate will be a direct bus route and cycle lanes. Then signalisation of the crompán roundabout will happen. Then maybe a pedestrian bridge to the train station (this bit is far less certain).

Tbf though, until there's better and reliable transport links to the train stations, they're useless. The walk from Little Island train station is long enough depending on where your office is (and Irish weather isn't ideal for it unless you're bringing changes of clothes with you) and Kent really needs the Cork Luas stuff to be done as you can't rely on buses here.

Cycling is a non runner for most people too. Imagine cycling through the tunnel 😂

It probably wouldnt but you've the exact same issue with the traffic. The shuttle bus is just going to be stuck in with everyone else, and then transport at Kent if going to the city is dismal so why would anyone go there and still be stuck when you can drive. Unless you live in walking distance of Kent station, you're relying on buses which is not good

Just to add: they're also going to reduce car priority in Eastgate, when they put in cycle lanes and close the entrances to some of the industrial units. More car priority is quite unlikely at this point.

Public Transport is never gonna tip the balance in terms of travel journey, a car going from A to B for one person is rarely gonna be faster than a train/bus that's serving hundreds.

It's the cost saving of not needing a second car, the benefit of being able to read a paper/work emails on the train, and the anger of the days there's a crash on the tunnel and everyone gets frustrated. It's not for everyone and takes a while to convert.

We're way off topic but if you need the car at the start of your journey for a 10 minute drive, the cost/effort is sunk. Cobh should probably have a shuttle bus to/from the train IMO. In the city, even outside of the Luas we need bus priority everywhere and it's being fought tooth and nail. Save our roundabouts etc. Anyway, apologies all, we're way off topic here even though it's an enjoyable discussion.

It may be off topic, but with the frequency with which Roads and Public Transport are being pitted against each other it is very interesting and good to have some real life comparisons, not that Mary from Athenry nonsense that was in the Rail Review. Especially as the people and traffic volumes in the areas around this interchange would suggest that PT alternatives could well be viable, and indeed will need to become viable. 

I worked in Eastgate for a period, while living in Rochestown. This was pre-pandemic and pre the start of the current project roadworks. My commute via the tunnel was 12 mins (off peak) and 30 mins peak by car. Almost always as the sole occupant. The straight line distance is less than 5km. The road distance via tunnel is 11km. The road distance via city is 19km. 

I tried PT on three occasions. I was on the 216 route, with a 3 min walk from door to the bus stop. At the time the 216 terminus was in Rochestown so the service was very predictable.  The detail of the journey is as follows: Walk to 216 stop and take 216 to city centre. Walk to Kent station and take train to Little Island. Walk from station to office in Eastgate, approx. 15 mins and a grim enough walk. The average of the six journeys was 1:45.  I think the best was just about 1:30. On the last occasion, I got caught in heavy rain walking in and got soaked, despite having an umbrella and I swore never again. 

The reality for me was leaving the house at 7:15am, I could be at my desk by 7:30. Taking PT I was lucky to be there by 9:00, and feeling like I needed a shower. With the reverse on the way home. 

I appreciate that busconnets, the cork commuter rail project, the CART, greenway improvements etc etc could all make a difference. But it’s a big big gap to make up. That said, a bus doing a loop from the station to Eastgate, taking in the retail units, would be a brilliant start. Perhaps a second one serving some of the other estates, especially at peak. 

Incidentally I also tried cycling a couple of times. I wanted to but didn’t chance the tunnel on safety grounds. The cycle from Rochestown to the city is pretty decent if you use the greenway, but Little Island to the city (and visa versa) was a truly miserable and dangerous experience. 

I’ve done a similar comparison comparing a frequent trip from Rochestown to a frequent destination in Limerick CC, which again should be a prime candidate for PT given my starting and end points, and the comparison is even more horrendous. But I wont drag this even further off topic other than to say that this is the kind of detail that really needs a champion if the change that Ryan waffles on about is ever to be achieved. 

Fully agreed. A big challenge for PT in Ireland is the fact that so many of us not only live in the suburbs, we also work in the suburbs, i.e. a two-leg commute. That was my daily reality in Dublin from ‘99 to ‘03. 1.5h door-to-door every morning and 2h every evening made for a miserable quality of life.

Yeah it's a different topic for sure. But to bring it back around to the topic, that's why it's so infuriating for me to see the deign team for the Dunkettle Interchange put in such a very bad cycle route. Their justification is that "shur there's no cyclists". But it's that attitude extrapolated across the entire city that has caused Dunkettle to be a traffic bottleneck.

If they did their job properly, and the next person did their job properly and so on, then traffic on the N40 wouldn't be as bad as it is. They're actually undermining their own project's desired outcomes by refusing to provide for other modes properly.