 The N40 through the interior of the southbound tube. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Cork City, crossing the River Lee |
| Route | N40 |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1995 |
| Opened | May 1999 |
| Operator | Egis Road and Tunnel Operation Ireland |
| Technical | |
| Length | 610 metres (670 yd) (immersed tube tunnel section) 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) (total roadway) |
| No. of lanes | 2 cells of 2 each |
| Operating speed | 80 km/h |
| Tunnel clearance | 8.5 metres (28 ft) (external) |
| Width | 24.5 metres (80.4 ft) (external) |
The Jack Lynch Tunnel (Irish: Tollán Sheáin Uí Loingsigh) is an immersed tube tunnel and an integral part of the N40 road network in Cork, Ireland. It is named after former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, a native of Cork.
It takes the road under the River Lee. North of the tunnel, the ring-road joins the M8 motorway to Dublin (north) and N8 road to the city centre (west), with the N25 commencing east to Waterford. The tunnel was completed in May 1999, and carried nearly 40,000 vehicles per day as of 2005. This number rose further as the N40 ring-road's upgrades progressed, with the opening of the Kinsale road roundabout flyover in 2006 and subsequent upgrades to the Sarsfield Road and Bandon Road Roundabouts. Traffic in 2016 was approximately 63,000 vehicles a day up from 59,000 in 2013.[1]
The tunnel has two cells, each with two traffic lanes and two footpaths, and a central bore for use in an emergency only. Pedestrians and cyclists are expressly forbidden from using the tunnel.[2] The exclusion of cyclists has been somewhat controversial as the feeder road is a dual-carriageway and so is open to cyclists, but the by-law is applied because of space limitations and the obvious danger of cyclists in an enclosed tunnel.
- ^ "TII Traffic Counter Data Jack Lynch Tunnel". nratrafficdata.ie. TII. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016.
- ^ "Home > Jack Lynch Tunnel". Jacklynchtunnel.ie. Retrieved 18 August 2014.