Thousands go underground as Limerick Tunnel open day proves a big success
GLORIOUS sunshine attracted thousands of curious visitors to the Limerick Tunnel on Saturday as the Direct Route consortium hosted a public open day.
No official opening date has been set for the motorists eager to use the €660 million road project but Saturday was the first and last chance for pedestrians, cyclists, prams and even dogs to travel the 700 metres under the Shannon.
"It's been a huge turnout and everybody is delighted with it. The weather has helped obviously. It's great for people to come and see the project on what will be their one and only chance to walk through the tunnel and get a feel for what it is like," said Tom Meagher, the NRA's resident engineer on the project.
"The next time they go through the tunnel, they will be whizzing through it in 30 seconds," he added.
When that might be is not certain, however.
"The contractual date is September 23 and obviously the contractor is hoping to finish prior to that. Everyone is working as hard as they can to try and finish as early as possible.
"Officially, we don't have a date. We have a lot of snagging and small items to finish on the scheme. As soon as they are done and the project is safe to open, it will be opened," Mr Meagher said.
Park and ride bus services were in operation at Limerick Racecourse, the City East business park and the Kilmurray Lodge to ferry visitors to and from the tunnel. Marquees erected on the north bank of the river allowed members of the public ask questions of the project engineers and view a scale model of the Southern Ring Phase Two scheme.
Queues formed at the stall run by The Intolligent Ltd, the company which issues electronic tags which can be mounted on the windscreen and provide a more convenient way of paying the €1.80 tunnel toll over multiple journeys.
"There has been absolutely huge interest so far," said Siobhan Hatworth, The Intolligent, "the majority from private individuals rather than business users so far. A lot of people are excited by how it works and this is going to make their commutes so much easier."
Vendors were also dishing out food and refreshments for the thousands who came along. And in association with Limerick Rotary, Direct Route was selling commemorative tunnel booklets in aid of local chairities like Milford Care Centre, Cystic Fibrosis Association Limerick and Thomond House.
Laura Kelly, Kilfinane, said "it is very impressive from an engineering point of view but from a financial point of view, with the state the country is in, you have to question how viable it might be. I can see people avoiding the toll and using the old road."
But Tony and Carmel Mason from Cratloe were not in agreement.
"I imagine we will use it a lot. We have to cross from one side to the other on a fairly regular basis so it will definitiely be a great asset to us. What you might pay on the toll, you will save on fuel and you don't have the frustration of the traffic," said Mr Mason.
Mr Mason has a boat and has "floated over the tunnel a few times, including when they were building it and laying it on the riverbed but it's good to be finally in it".
Cratloe has been particularly badly disrupted during construction but those days are almost at an end.
"It was an inconvenience during the peak construction time but now that we're almost there, it's great and we'll be relived of all that soon. You have to put up with it. You can't stop progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Donal Cooper from Newcastle West had one or two ideas of his own as he stood directly under the Shannon at the tunnel's lowest point.
"I wonder how much water is above me right now and what weight it is? The thing is will it draw Clare and Limerick closer together or should we have a passport centre at the Clare side like we had years ago? I'm proposing passport control to stop Clare people coming across. We shouldn't let them in and we should start taking over more land on the Clare side," he said.
He also noted that the toll revenue was collected on the north and not on the south side of the river.
"In Limerick, we leave people through free of charge and have done so for years whereas in Clare , what else would you expect," he joked.
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Weather for Limerick
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
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Wind direction: South east
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