Traffic in the tunnel

Friday13th

Hi all - hoping somebody from Cork can help me!

My husband may be getting a job in Ringaskiddy and we are wondering about the possibility of commuting from Waterford daily. We have heard that the traffic in the tunnel is very bad, but could anybody tell us how busy it is around 7 - 7.15am and around 5pm every evening (and the road out to Ringaskiddy)

Any help would be appreciated....

Aglomerado

I'd say you'll be OK hitting the tunnel at that time of the morning. Traffic only really starts to build from 7.40 on. (The past couple of mornings have been bad from then on). (I usually approach it from the Dublin side.) I don't know about the road to Ringaskiddy though.

Even if the tunnel is closed for maintenance it'll be open again at 7am.

South ring road towards the tunnel is busy at 5pm but I usually find it moves OK unless there's an incident.

solargain

Traffic crawls into the tunnel form 5 - 6 in the evening , you will be coming form Ringaskiddy so will hit it head on at 5.15 near the Rochestown Park hotel Take about 20 min from there when its going bad to get to the tunnel , Wed & Thurdsays seem to be worst . It will be a clear run from there to Waterford , with a slow down in Castlemartyr

CHealy

What part of Waterford are you in?

I'm fully of the opinion that any commute over an hour just isnt worth it in the long run, it seriously affects quality of life and mental well being, and not to mention the cost of petrol/diesel every week just to go to work. I've known people coming from Tipperary and Limerick coming to Cork for work and they all ended up getting other jobs closer to home.

Have a good long think about the impotence of the job and if your husband can take all the travel. The tunnel can be very busy at times, not too mention the South Ring and then your on the road to Ringaskiddy which also has its moments.

Frog Song

He'll be fine in the morning at that time, in the evening when he's leaving it will be very busy. Are there other route options at all?

Friday13th

Thanks everybody for the helpful replies.

He would be finishing at 4.30pm in the day if this would mean a difference in the traffic?

Padraig Mor

Tunnel won't be too bad then - maybe 5 min delay. It peaks from about 1715 onwards.

-Toppy-

Dont forget there is a website were you can see live feed
www.jacklynchtunnel.ie aand would you believe there is an app as well

I think you can get twitter alerts too from them when something is reported

lostinsuperfunk

He could avoid the tunnel completely by taking the harbour ferry from Glenbrook across to Great Island and joining the N25 at Fota/Carrigtwohill. There could be delays in that route too, maybe there are some seasoned East Cork - Ringaskiddy commuters on boards who could advise.

kaki

The ferry would make sense for avoiding the worst of the traffic, but brings with it its' own costs (€25 for 10 journeys, or an extra €100 per month). Just something to consider.

Red Nissan

-Toppy- wrote: »

Dont forget there is a website were you can see live feed

They are not live feeds. What they are I don't know, but if you watch inline and watch the actual traffic, it's not live.

Plus I had my wife watching it at home on broadband in case that was the problem, and I was on the CB to her and I never did show up as I went through both sides.

Red Nissan

Coming into Cork from either route is fine. I don't consider the ferry a speed or cost saving, especially in the evenings.

Getting out is the problem, one can get stuck for two hours routinely for minor incidents. And unfortunately we do have a lot of those.

I'd chance the tunnel though, sometimes it's like magic too, so overall on a daily basis, the odds are in your favour for an efficient exit.

scudo2

Orignaly the tunnel designe was for one lane

Red Nissan

scudo2 wrote: »

Orignaly the tunnel designe was for one lane

So?

One Bore and the service tunnel maybe?

For something really silly, I was working in the motor industry before it opened and I was mobile service and believe it or not our company was to quote for checking the wheel nuts on every truck before it entered the tunnel ~~~~ Madness> but the story is true.

curly from cork

The Ringaskiddy road is very very busy from about 430 onwards as all the factories seem to finish around that time . If the ferry Is an option , depending on where you re coming from in Ringaskiddy it might be possible to avoid the traffic back log on the main road and go down into raffeen village and the coast road to the ferry .

j8wk2feszrnpao

Friday13th wrote: »

Thanks everybody for the helpful replies.

He would be finishing at 4.30pm in the day if this would mean a difference in the traffic?

I sometimes work in Ringaskiddy and travel home via the tunnel.

Getting to Ringaskiddy won't be a problme at that time of the morning.
If he leaves Ringasiddy at 4:30pm, then it'll be ok.
The real problem is the 5pm traffic, which backs up at the Shannonpark Roundabout, and will cause delays even before you meet the tunnel traffic.
It can take approx 50mins at times to get from Ringaskiddy to Carrigtwohill if you leave at 5pm (about 30mins if you leave at 4:30pm).

The road from Cork to Waterford can be a pain. Plenty of parts that will slow you down should you meet any drivers/vehicles that decide they are unable to drive close to the speed limit.

The ferry option is there, but only useful if he finishes at 5pm, and even then you may be queuing/waiting as it can be busy. You might not save any time, and it's an added expense.
I've only found the Ferry useful if I was heading to Cobh or there was an accident in the tunnel that caused major delays.

It's been a while since I traveled to Waterford, but it's got to be close to 2hrs from Ringaskiddy, maybe longer.

pwurple

The problem with waterford ringaskiddy isn't going to be the tunnel interchange, it'll be shannonpark.

And the tunnel was never designed to be one lane... There is already a third service bore there.... In the center, between the other two. Where does this stuff come from?

The camera has a very small lag, maybe 15-20 seconds, but it is a live stream. They are not playing traffic on a loop for the craic.

cantdecide

lostinsuperfunk wrote: »

He could avoid the tunnel completely by taking the harbour ferry from Glenbrook across to Great Island and joining the N25 at Fota/Carrigtwohill. There could be delays in that route too, maybe there are some seasoned East Cork - Ringaskiddy commuters on boards who could advise.

I did that commute and the ferry just isn't viable IMO.

He may get stuck in the morning between Shannonpark Rdbt and Shanbally so what I used to do (as did many) was cut up the hard shoulder and take the left for Monkstown and the First right up the narrow road that brings you out in Shanbally. I often skipped half a mile of nearly stopped traffic in the mornings.

-Toppy-

Ment to ask is it Front Ringaskiddy (ie down by Pfizers or Port of Cork) or back Ringaskiddy (up by Jansen?) or down through the Village?

Id avoid turning right up the hill right before you come into Ring, but all depends on traffic at the time etc

Friday13th

Thanks again for all your replies.

We're thinking that he'll have to stay down a few nights now based on the commute. Does anyone know of any cheap b&b's close to that area for Mon - Fri? It's only going to be for a few months.

-Toppy-

Dont know of prices, but there are definitely a few in Carrigaline, and I believe there is one just before you come into Shanbally and possible some over in Monkstown

I dont think there is an official B&B in Ring but I could be wrong

curly from cork

Over looking the main Ringaskiddy road . Take a look at www.raffeenlodge.com
Or www.raffeencottages.com . Just around the corner from the main road . Both great locations and both look very nice from the outside .

clerk

CHealy wrote: »

and not to mention the cost of petrol/diesel every week just to go to work. I've known people coming from Tipperary and Limerick coming to Cork for work and they all ended up getting other jobs closer to home.

Depreciation on your car is another huge cost over time in a Daily long drive. An old car will not last that level of driving without a lot of repairs and at best it will be a heavy cost for parts/tyres etc. and a new car will take a serious hammering on depreciation/milage over a 3/4 Year time frame.

It might even be cheaper and less tiring to stay in a cheap b&b a couple of nights a week to break the week up.

You got to do what you got to do but long travel is expensive.