NEWS

The Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade Scheme was officially opened by An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin TD, marking a significant milestone in enhancing transportation infrastructure and connectivity in Cork. The €215m project promises to alleviate congestion, improve safety, and streamline traffic flow for the region's residents and businesses. Link C and Link P, the final remaining links on the Project, were opened to traffic on Monday the 12th of February 2024 and this marked Substantial Completion on the Project.

The Dunkettle Interchange is the junction of four national roads, the M8 Cork - Dublin Motorway, the N25 Cork - Waterford / Rosslare route, the N40 Cork South Ring Road and the N8 Dunkettle - Cork city National Route. The Interchange is located approximately 5 kilometres east of Cork City centre and lies mainly within the Cork City Council administrative area.

Whilst advance works including archaeological and ground investigations got underway in 2016, the main construction contract was awarded to John Sisk & Son Ltd. in October 2020. The project has delivered 18 new road links totalling 10km in length; 7 new bridge structures as well as upgrade works carried out on five pre-existing structures; and upgrades and resurfacing works to the N25 road between Tivoli Roundabout and the Little Island Interchange. In addition, 2.9km of new walkways and cycleways have been developed including the provision of a new bridge across the Cork-Midleton railway line; Intelligent Transport Systems throughout the upgraded Interchange; and installation of new culverts and pollution control facilities, landscaping works, directional signage, safety barriers, etc.

Traffic volumes through the Dunkettle interchange are at an all-time high, approaching 120,000 vehicles on the busier days of the week. Despite this, Transport Infrastructure Ireland reports that journey times during peak hours have reduced by almost 50% on average as a result of this upgrade project.

Journey time savings of almost 60% are being achieved on the N40 to N25 route during peak hours, whilst time savings of over 50% are being achieved on routes accessed via the M8 Southbound.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy, said: “The new Interchange stands as an important additional piece in the strategic transport infrastructure in metropolitan Cork. This year marks 25 years since the Jack Lynch Tunnel opened, which in its day was seen as an engineering feat. The new interchange is also an engineering feat and adds to the adjacent tunnel's story and narratives. In our time, the removal of critical bottlenecks creates better traffic flows but also greater connectivity between communities on either side of the River Lee's estuary. The enhanced connectivity facilitated by this project will undoubtedly fuel progress and opportunity for generations to come.”

Tánaiste Micheál Martin TD said: "I’m delighted to officially open the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade Scheme today. This infrastructure project represents a significant investment in Cork's future and provides a vital link in the region's transport network. I believe that it will be a catalyst for enhancing economic and social activity right across Cork and the entire Munster region.”

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Frank O’Flynn said: “The completion of this project is a significant milestone in the development of the southern region. Cork County Council will be working closely with our colleagues in Cork City Council to build on the work done at Dunkettle in terms of active travel infrastructure and deliver further enhancements both east and west of the interchange. The Dunkettle interchange works also support the Council's ambition of developing sustainable travel modes by facilitating safe pedestrian and cyclist mobility in the context of the ongoing development of the Eastern Metropolitan Active Travel Corridor which it is planned will extend to Midleton in the near future. These initiatives make it a particularly exciting time in terms of quality of life improvements for the people of Cork.”

Peter Walsh, Chief Executive of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, said: “The Dunkettle Project completion marks the culmination of a journey that has been ten years in the making. Planning permission for the scheme was first received in 2013, and ongoing close collaboration between the Government, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, John Sisk & Son Ltd. and Jacobs allowed the project to move forward. It was delivered through innovation and commitment by the entire project team and with the support and patience of the public.”

The contract for the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade Scheme includes a 3-year maintenance period which will run until 2027. In addition to environmental monitoring and landscaping management, this will also include an ongoing focus on monitoring traffic flows through the network.

The photograph below shows Peter Walsh, Chief Executive, Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment; Valerie O'Sullivan, Chief Executive, Cork County Council; Cllr Frank O'Flynn, Mayor of The County of Cork; Tánaiste Mícheál Martin TD; Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Lord Mayor of Cork; Ann Doherty, Chief Executive, Cork City Council, and Michael McGrath TD, Minister for Finance, pictured at the official opening of the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade Scheme.

Click on the image below to access further photos of the Dunkettle Interchange.

Link D (Northbound), the new N40 (Jack Lynch Tunnel) to M8 (Dublin) northbound free flow link road was opened to traffic on the night of Tuesday 12th September 2023.

Click on the image below for further explanatory photographs.

The N25 westbound was closed from 7:30pm on Friday 21st April 2023 to facilitate the bridge deck waterproofing works at Structures ST14 & ST15.

The road reopened to traffic at 6.30pm on Saturday 22nd April 2023 a couple of hours ahead of schedule.

The main diversion route via the Jack Lynch Tunnel, N40 and the Cork City South Ring Road for the N25 and the M8 traffic. Traffic approaching from the N40 and the N28 diverted via the Kinsale Road Roundabout and the Cork City South Ring Road.

The works were carried out under night time and weekend working in order to minimise the disruption to traffic. However, additional time was advised for journeys in the works area on Saturday afternoon in particular.

Click on the image below to access further explanatory images of the road closure.

On Friday the 10th of February, a new access route will open to the N25 Eastbound from Glanmire, Glounthaune and Little Island.

Link I will give access from the the Bury's Bridge Roundabout (L3004 & L2998) and the R623 Roundabout via the new northern roundabout as highlighted below.

Click on the image below to access further explanatory images of the new route.

The Tunnel Management Building slip road, to the R623 (shown coloured red in the layout plan below), off the N40 southbound at the Dunkettle Interchange will close permanently at 10:00am on Thursday 24th November 2022.

Click on the image below to find the alternative routes to the R623 and Little Island from the N40 Northbound, the M8 Southbound and the N8 Eastbound.

For N25 Westbound traffic, the route into Little Island will continue to be via Junction 2, the Little Island Interchange.

On Sunday 20th November as part of the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade;

• A new one-way route for traffic heading north through the Jack Lynch Tunnel and wishing to access either Little Island or the N25 Eastbound will open. This represents a significant change in alignment and motorists are advised to utilise the left-hand lane of the Jack Lynch Tunnel in order to access the new route (Link A highlighted below).

• Opening of Link A will trigger the immediate closure of the N25 Eastbound merge from the Interchange Roundabout (highlighted in orange below).

• A new one-way route will provide a free-flow Link for southbound traffic on the M8 wishing to head east on the N25 or wishing to access Little Island (Link E highlighted below).

• Traffic utilising Link E will merge with Link A traffic and will then have the option of merging onto the N25 Eastbound or proceeding via a new one-way route to the Northern Roundabout of the new Eastern Interchange, in order to access Little Island – Link G (highlighted below) will facilitate Link A-E traffic wishing to access Little Island.

The new north-south route over the N25 incorporates dedicated facilities for both Active and Public Transport consisting of a northbound bus lane south of the N25, and a segregated two-way cycle/pedestrian path, incorporating a new bridge over the railway.

This new section will result in 2.5 kilometres of continuous Active Travel Route delivered as part of the Interchange Upgrade, (highlighted in yellow on the image below).

Following on immediately from the opening of the new route over the N25 on the 24th of October, the “Ibis slip road” onto the M8 from the Dunkettle local road network will close.

This will facilitate the completion of the outstanding works on Link E (the new free flow slip road from the M8 to the N25 eastbound). The M8 southbound will then be restored to 2 lanes during November 2022 - exact date will be confirmed in advance

Traffic which previously used the Ibis Slip-road will be diverted over the N25 via the new bridge and along the R623 Regional Road as far as the Dunkettle Interchange Roundabout – see diversion route hereunder. This is an interim arrangement and will be replaced by further road link openings over the coming period.

On Monday 24th October, as part of the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade;

• A new one-way road link will open providing a direct route for outbound traffic heading east on the N8 from Cork City to connect to the L3004 ‘Glanmire to Glounthaune’ Local Road (Link T highlighted below).

• A new two-way road will open at the same time, immediately to the east of the existing Dunkettle Interchange, crossing over the N25 via a new bridge and linking the L3004 ‘Glanmire to Glounthaune’ Local Road to the R623 Regional Road on Little Island. This route also incorporates a two-way segregated cycle and pedestrian path (Link H+Q highlighted below).

• Taken together, the new road links will provide better local connections, reduce traffic volumes on the existing Dunkettle and Little Island Interchanges, and improve access to the west side of Little Island.

Click on the image below to access further explanatory images of the new routes.

Traffic was directed over the new Structure ST08 at midday today as planned. The new layout is working well so far but motorists are again reminded to allow extra time for their journey if using the M8 southbound during the AM peak from tomorrow Monday 31st January 2022. The AM peak for Monday 31st January 2022 will be monitored closely with a view to ensuring that any additional delays are minimised. We intend to issue a further brief update at midday tomorrow Monday 31st January.  

Further to the annoucement below on January 25th 2022, the Ibis slip-road from the Glounthaune-Glanmire Road onto the M8 Southbound has closed as scheduled this morning, and will reopen on February 6th, as part of works to open a new bridge on the Interchange Upgrade over the upcoming weekend. The M8 Southbound lane closure is also now in place from approximately 1.5 kilometres prior to the Interchange. Please take care on approach and expect queues at peak times.

With the progression of the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade Scheme works, the immediate off-slip for Bury’s bridge heading Eastbound on the N25 will be closed for one year. This road closure is to facilitate the works that are incorporated in constructing a new 81m triple span underbridge that will cross the N25. This closure will be in place from the 29^th March 2021 until the early months of 2022. Diversions will be in place where traffic will be redirected along the N25 heading Eastbound and diverge at the Little Island off ramp. The L2998 will remain fully open during this period following the Phase 1 upgrade works.

Four of our Engineers from the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade team, Jim McCarthy, Denise McCarthy, Michael Owens and Cathal O’ Connor, were delighted to support Engineers Week Ireland this week. The engineering team was ably assisted by our intern, Aisling McCarthy.

Organised by Engineers Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, Engineers Week celebrates engineering across Ireland. Everybody is invited to get involved and inspire young people around the country to consider a career in engineering.

The team got involved this year by presenting to both primary and secondary schools located near the project works. The following schools were visited by the team;

• 04/03/19 - Glanmire Community College (180 students).
• 05/03/19 - Scoil Inse Rátha, Little Island (60 students).
• 06/03/19 - Scoil Náisiúnta a Chroí Naofa, Glounthaune (250 students).

The team spoke about their individual career paths, gave examples of the projects that they have worked on and completed, various types of engineering and how it is used in every day life, as well as showing the proposed plans for the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade scheme and how it will be beneficial in the future. Our aim was to encourage and to empower the students to follow their own career journeys within engineering and the overall response could not have been any better.

Presenting to almost 500 students this week, they greatly appreciated the insights gained from the personal career pathways to date from the team. We recieved high levels of engagement and interaction from the students throughout these school visits by hosting question and answer sessions after each presentation as well as providing supplies to carry out engineering activities.

Some of the activities carried out included the demonstration of surveying equipment, creating structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows with 5th and 6th class students as well as the demonstration of the Law of the Lever using a toy crane. The team brought hard hats, goggles and overalls for the students to try on.

The team also provided each school with branded pens, rulers, as well as participation certificates for each student. John Sisk & Sons kindly donated ‘curiosity boxes’ for all of the primary schools involved.  

Four of our Engineers from the Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade team, Jim McCarthy, Denise McCarthy, Michael Owens and Cathal O’ Connor, were delighted to support Engineers Week Ireland this week. The engineering team was ably assisted by our intern, Aisling McCarthy.

Organised by Engineers Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, Engineers Week celebrates engineering across Ireland. Everybody is invited to get involved and inspire young people around the country to consider a career in engineering.

The team got involved this year by presenting to both primary and secondary schools located near the project works. The following schools were visited by the team;

• 04/03/19 - Glanmire Community College (180 students).
• 05/03/19 - Scoil Inse Rátha, Little Island (60 students).
• 06/03/19 - Scoil Náisiúnta a Chroí Naofa, Glounthaune (250 students).

The team spoke about their individual career paths, gave examples of the projects that they have worked on and completed, various types of engineering and how it is used in every day life, as well as showing the proposed plans for the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade scheme and how it will be beneficial in the future. Our aim was to encourage and to empower the students to follow their own career journeys within engineering and the overall response could not have been any better.

Presenting to almost 500 students this week, they greatly appreciated the insights gained from the personal career pathways to date from the team. We recieved high levels of engagement and interaction from the students throughout these school visits by hosting question and answer sessions after each presentation as well as providing supplies to carry out engineering activities.

Some of the activities carried out included the demonstration of surveying equipment, creating structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows with 5th and 6th class students as well as the demonstration of the Law of the Lever using a toy crane. The team brought hard hats, goggles and overalls for the students to try on.

The team also provided each school with branded pens, rulers, as well as participation certificates for each student. John Sisk & Sons kindly donated ‘curiosity boxes’ for all of the primary schools involved.