M50 traffic faces disruption over work on new Luas bridge

A SEVEN kilometre stretch of the M50 northbound will be closed overnight tonight, while the southbound side will be closed this morning to allow for the construction of a new Luas bridge at Leopardstown in south Dublin.

The northbound side of the M50 between Shankill and Leopardstown will close from 8pm tonight until 11am tomorrow, while the southbound side, which closed last night, will reopen at 11am this morning.

The closures are to allow construction of a bridge which will carry the new 7.5km Luas extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood. The new line, B1, will extend the Green Luas line which currently runs from St Stephen's Green to Sandyford.

This is the second Luas bridge built over the M50 to carry the new line. Construction of a bridge over the motorway at Carrickmines resulted in closures of the road over two weekends late last year.

A spokesman for the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) said the agency hoped to keep disruption on the motorway to a minimum and construction would take place mainly at weekends, weather conditions permitting. Diversion signage will be in place during the closures, he added.

The new line, which is part of the Government's Transport 21 plan is due to open in 2010. The chief executive of RPA, Frank Allen, has in recent days told an Oireachtas committee that the extension would cost about €40 million per kilometre. The extension of Luas to Dublin's docklands will cost €60 million a kilometre.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times