NEXT Tuesday promises to be an historic day for Limerick, with the scheduled opening of the €660 million tunnel.
Work commenced four years ago. However, while Tuesday is pencilled in for the big day, official confirmation will not be forthcoming until the weekend.
Agencies involved in the construction and running of the PPP scheme are this week holding final talks on the operation of the structure, which is expected to ease traffic through the city to the tune of 20,000 vehicles a day.
Tom King, general manager of Direct Route, told the Limerick Post that An Taoiseach Brian Cowen is due to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.
“The provisional date is Tuesday, July 27 for the opening and the Taoiseach is free that day to cut the ribbon”. He said that there was still due process to go through with the NRA, before the opening date was confirmed and that meetings are being held throughout this week.
The tunnel is the first to comply with legislation under the new European Tunnel Safety Directive.
“We still don’t have a definite green light, but there is no hold-up per se. All documents and safety inspections, etc, have to be signed off by the NRA and there are some consultations to go through.
“We are confident everything is in place to open next week. This is the culmination of four years work. It has been hugely successful and we have ticked all the boxes”.
When asked who was pencilled in as the first unofficial vehicle to travel through the Tunnel, Mr. King quipped: “I don’t care who is first as long as they pay their €1.80 toll!”
