EXTREME WEATHER conditions have delayed today's planned opening of phase one of the M50 upgrade according to the National Roads Authority (NRA) which said road markings and remaining parts of the "black top" could not be laid because of the sudden cold snap.
Traffic will, however, have access to four lanes in each direction between the N4 and the N7 Red Cow interchanges, from this morning.
Traffic will use the final configuration of the interchanges themselves. But cold winds and even predictions of snow over the weekend made road marking and the laying of a final surface in the Ballymount area, the southern interchange, impossible.
A spokesman said it was hoped to have the work completed later this week, but he stressed that this too would be "weather permitting". Phase one of the €1 billion upgrade is understood to have cost in the region of €600 million.
Traffic on the 8km section of the M50 hit a peak of some 100,000 vehicles per day before work started in earnest on the upgrade in the autumn of 2006.
Traffic on the N7 through the Red Cow interchange has exceeded 70,000 vehicles a day. Between them the two routes are the Republic's busiest and second busiest roads.
The consortium building phase one is Irish-Spanish consortium Siac-Ferrovial, operating as Eurolink. This consortium previously built the N4 toll road in the midlands and is currently working on the M3 in Co Meath.
A spokesman for the NRA yesterday expressed disappointment that the road could not have been fully opened by today.
He said crews were working round the clock over recent weeks to put the final measures in place, and had been waiting for the recent heavy rains to stop when the cold snap came in.
"It is weather dependent," he said.
"There is no point in putting down the final surface if it is to crumble and come up again."
He added that special reflective paint used for the road markings could not be laid on a cold surface.
Phases two and three, covering the remaining motorway between the airport interchange with the M1 and Sandyford in south Co Dublin is to be completed by 2010.
