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AS IT HAPPENED

Commuting liveblog: Traffic very slow in Dublin city centre, and the M50 is super busy

All the traffic, travel and weather info you need to start your day…

Good morning everyone and welcome to Tuesday! Cianan Brennan here manning the liveblog this morning. We hope you all had a wonderful bank holiday.

Now it’s over unfortunately and it’s time to get back to the grindstone. Stick with me until 9am and I’ll keep you updated with what’s happening on the roads and rails this morning.

If you spot anything important, or even a wee bit entertaining, send it on to cianan@thejournal.ie, or you can tweet @ciananbrennan or @thejournal_ie.

Happy Tuesday everyone. It’s a little chilly in Dublin this morning, and by all accounts it’s going to stay that way in the mornings for most of the week.

Still, though, check out the sun. The future’s so bright etc…

20160503_070549

A quick travel update for you before we check out the weather.

A large obstruction on the M7 Dublin-Limerick motorway at junction six Castlewarden has been removed. It had been blocking the right lane.

There’s some attendant delays as a result as traffic rights itself so one to bear in mind.

For rail commuters into Dublin on the Sligo-Connolly line – services are running 20 minutes late this morning after a train was vandalised at the western terminus.

Now onto the weather courtesy of Met Éireann.

We’re going to have a nice, sunny start to the day. There’ll be a few showers later on but concentrated in the north of the country. All areas will be dry and sunny this afternoon.

Light winds decreasing over the course of the day and veering southwesterly by this afternoon.

Maximum temperatures a moderate 11 to 13 degrees Celsius.

Both the weather outlook and the devilish rainfall radar make for pleasant viewing this morning:

sun Lovely sun Met Éireann Met Éireann

rain Take that, rain Met Éireann Met Éireann

Now for the regional city traffic, courtesy of AA Roadwatch.

All is relatively quiet in Cork, Waterford, and Limerick cities at present.

In Galway, traffic is picking up at the regular trouble-spot at Ballybrit Crescent approaching Galway Technology Park. Otherwise things are moving well in the city centre.

ballybrit Google Maps Google Maps

To Dublin city now, again with AA Roadwatch:

Things seem to be moving at a relatively tidy pace around the city this morning, which is nice. Post-bank holiday lull maybe?

Anyway, it’s slow on the dreaded North Quays from Inns Quay to Bachelors Walk. That may get worse as the morning progresses you would feel.

There are delays inbound on the northside between Whitehall and Drumcondra.

The M50 is behaving itself for the most part, although things are picking up a little between the Red Cow junction nine and Ballymount junction 10 southbound.

red cow Google Maps Google Maps

Here’s how things looked at Ballymount on Dublin City Council’s traffic camera at 7.15am:

ballymount DCC DCC

It’s getting busy out there.

The biggest sporting story this morning, and most any morning to be honest, is the fact that relative minnows Leicester City have been crowned Premier League champions after rivals Tottenham Hotspur failed to win last night.

It’s a remarkable, 5000-1 story, and the English midlands city has been celebrating like a mad thing. And who can blame them?

Check out the best photos of the celebrations here:

vardy A Leicester City fan bows down to a projection of Jamie Vardy on the side of the Ramada Encore Hotel in Leicester last night Jonathan Brady Jonathan Brady

Here’s a selection of views of Dublin’s traffic this morning from the DCC traffic cams.

Traffic looks brisk on the approach to the city at Ballymun on the city’s northside:

ballymun DCC DCC

Drumcondra is also looking nasty. The approach for workers into the city from the north isn’t looking good at the moment at all from any angle:

drumc DCC DCC

At the Convention Centre on the North Quays, Guild Street looks very busy indeed:

guild DCC DCC

It’s not news today. But it certainly will be tomorrow: a quick reminder that the Luas will be on strike yet again all day tomorrow:

The Dublin Bus Twitter person has had a couple of days off by the looks of things, and is fighting fires with a vengeance this morning:

dublin bus Dublin Bus / Twitter Dublin Bus / Twitter / Twitter

Here’s the pick of this morning’s news from our 8 at 8:

#GOVERNMENT: Government talks are rumbling on with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael considering endorsing a deal agreed last week.

#LANDLORDS: Landlords who try and evict tenants by saying they are selling up will now have to prove it.

#BIG MONEY: Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $55 million to a woman who says the company’s talcum powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer.

#GRADUATES: Employment levels for graduates have started to improve, RTÉ is reporting.

breakfast

There’s trouble in the Port Tunnel in Dublin – a vehicle has broken down in the southbound bore leaving traffic down to one lane:

That Port Tunnel blockage has now been cleared it seems:

We’re off to the cities again now, thanks to AA Roadwatch:

There’s lots going on in Galway now. Traffic is heavy on the main Dublin Road near the Bothar na dTreabh and the Coast Road.

The N17 is seeing delays inbound, while the Headford Road is busy  but moving towards Ballybrit Crescent.

In Cork city the Dunkettle Interchange is busy from all approaches., with the long delays on the N40 South Ring Road. The N28 Ringaskiddy Road is busy inbound as far as the Rochestown Road junction.

dunkettle The Dunkettle Interchange Google Maps Google Maps

In the city centre it’s slow both ways on Patrick and Washington streets, and outbound at UCC.

In Waterford traffic is very busy inbound approaching the Rice Bridge from Ferrybank.

Limerick is the stand-out student this morning – there are no major delays to report in the Treaty city at present.

In Dublin, our colleague Paul Hosford reports that traffic is at a standstill on Brunswick Street leading into Church Street in the north inner city near Smithfield.

Judging by Google’s traffic tracker he’s not wrong:

brunsw Google Maps Google Maps

Traffic is very busy now elsewhere in Dublin, according to AA Roadwatch.

The M50 is very busy in both directions, particularly between Lucan and the Red Cow southbound and between Firhouse and Ballymount on the northbound stretch:

tallaght DCC DCC

Con Colbert Road at Heuston Station is causing delays.

The Grand Canal is very slow between Harold’s Cross and Leeson Street.

The Stillorgan Road is very busy at the turn for Nutley Lane at RTÉ:

kilmacud DCC DCC

 

The North Quays look horrible – the earlier mentioned gridlock at Brunswick Street certainly won’t be helping there:

north quay DCC DCC

There’s a bridge re-naming ceremony in Dublin this morning – the East Link is set to be renamed for Thomas Clarke, one of the chief organisers of the 1916 Easter Rising.

This should see major traffic disruption in the area from 10am onwards – so it’s worth planning your route in advance:

Ok guys, it has been a very incident-free morning on the roads, which is a good thing lest we forget. Anyway, that’s all from me for today, I’ll be back with another liveblog tomorrow morning.

Until then, travel safe and take care.

goodbye