A VERY GOOD morning everyone, and welcome to this Wednesday’s commuting liveblog.
Cianan Brennan here, bringing you all the latest in traffic, travel, weather, and whatever else you’re having on your commute to work.
I’ll be here until 9am, so stick with me for all the traffic news across the country as and when it happens.
Good morning everyone. It’s a bit of a dull, grey morning here in Dublin at present, but it’s also relatively warm. Well it’s not freezing cold anyway.
Here’s the view from TheJournal.ie towers at 7am:
No lovely sunrise, just a grey old Wednesday. Oh well.
First things first we’ll give you a flights update.
In light of the horrific events in Brussels yesterday, Brussels Zaventem airport remains closed today.
Ryanair’s flights are operating, but they’ll be flying in and out of Charleroi airport, which is about an hour’s drive outside the Belgian city.
All Aer Lingus flights to Brussels today have been cancelled.
Some road traffic news from around the country now courtesy of AA Roadwatch.
In Carlow, there were some horses on the loose on the Dublin Road near the Deerpark roundabout. They’ve been removed but there may be some attendant delays.
In south Co Wicklow, the traffic is down to one lane on the Tinahely-to-Arklow road due to an overturned car:
Are you a Dart commuter? Services are running approximately 10 minutes behind schedule due to a disruption on the Connolly-M3 Parkway line.
The 7.10 Connolly-Parkway service itself is running 15 minutes behind schedule as a result, while the 6.50am service was cancelled entirely.
Weather now, and here’s what Met Éireann have for us:
It’s going to be mostly cloudy today with scattered outbreaks of rain, but not too wet overall.
It’ll be a bit more sunny later as the morning progresses.
Temperatures of between nine and 11 degrees Celsius, with moderate west to southwest winds.
It’s far from t-shirt weather yet. Still, the rainfall radar makes for happy viewing:
Dublin traffic now.
Congestion into the city is relatively light. According to AA Roadwatch, the M50 southbound is busy already, particularly between the Red Cow roundabout and junction 10 Ballymount.
Northbound traffic however is moving nicely, while standard inbound delays into the city proper apply.
Here’s how things look on the Dublin City Council traffic cameras at 7.30am:
The M50 is looking quite busy at the Tallaght interchange:
Things seem to be moving smoothly at the Red Cow but that can change quickly as regular users will attest:
Meanwhile, traffic at the Malahide Road on the M1 southbound is also starting to build:
In an update on the Brussels terror attacks, it has emerged this morning that two brothers were behind yesterday’s suicide bombings of Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station.
Remember, if you have anything to share, either traffic-related or just something that might brighten everyone’s morning, feel free to send it on to tips@thejournal.ie, cianan@thejournal.ie, or you can tweet me @ciananbrennan
It’s been a relatively quiet morning on the traffic front thus far. Let’s take a look at how things are looking in the cities outside Dublin per AA Roadwatch.
Galway
It’s very busy heading into the Galway Technology Park from Briarhill, with traffic picking up on the way into the city on the N84 Headford Road from Ballinfoyle onwards
Cork
Nothing major to report at present. As you were.
Limerick
Traffic is generally moving well.
Waterford
All is good with the Deise traffic also.
On the Connolly-Maynooth line, Irish Rail reports that things are now back on schedule, apart from the 7.10am M3/Docklands service which is still rather naughtily running 15 minutes late.
This is a little bit terrifying.
30 drivers were stopped in just eight hours yesterday by gardaí in Mayorstone, Limerick, for holding their phones while driving.
It’s not big and it’s not clever people.
In international news, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had a night to remember in Arizona as they snatched the latest US presidential primaries.
A Trump run for the presidency as the Republican candidate is looking more and more likely, an unthinkable situation just six months ago.
Some traffic news at last on what has been a very quiet morning: there’s a car overturned on the N71 Bantry-to-Skibbereen Road at Ballydehob.
Here’s the pick of the morning’s news from our 8 at 8.
We’re also going to reproduce the picture used because it looks delicious.
#BRUSSELS: Belgian media have named the two suicide bombers who attacked Brussels Airport yesterday morning as brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.
#CENSUS: Details of Census 2016 will be announced at a press briefing later on today. The census will take place on Sunday 24 April.
#FINGAL: Environment minister Alan Kelly has said that Fingal County Council are trying to purchase the houses in Tyrrelstown, Co Dublin where 100 families face the threat of eviction.
#STAY SAFE: Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority have issued an appeal to people travelling in cars over the Easter weekend to wear their seatbelts.
In Dublin, the north quays are very heavy traffic wise at present.
You’re looking at spending 27 minutes getting from Wolfe Tone Quay to Bachelors Walk.
Meanwhile, in Wicklow, the overturned car that was blocking a lane on the Tinahely / Arklow Road has been cleared.
Traffic on the South Circular Road in Dublin looks HORRIBLE at present. Are you stuck in it this morning?
In fact, most of Dublin city centre is lit up with red lines at present per Google’s traffic tracker – it’s gridlock out there it seems just now:
There’s a bit of a celebration on this weekend, something to do with an Easter… Rising? Something like that anyway.
I jest of course, the celebrations for the centenary of the 1916 Rising are going to take over Dublin this weekend, and traffic is going to be heavily affected as you might expect.
Here’s an idea of what you can expect:
The north quays in Dublin are definitely a struggle at present – worth avoiding if you can:
Now that its Connolly services are back on track, Irish Rail is talking some smoking on Twitter.
What do you think, does Robert have a point?
The weather may be fine this morning, or at least unremarkable anyway, but it isn’t going to last we’re sorry to say.
No, good old Ireland has an Easter Rising treat in store for the weekend – it’s going to be cold, it’s going to be windy, it’s going to be wet.
Well, let’s be honest, it feels a bit weird when the weather’s nice doesn’t it? Give me a nice torrential downpour any day.
Uh oh, there’s a breakdown on the N7 at the Red Cow – it’s blocking the middle lane.
Actually, it seems the breakdown is a truck.
Traffic around the Red Cow looks nightmarish at present in fact:
More animal tomfoolery, in Kildare this time, with reports of cows loose on the R418 AThy / Kilcullen Road at Ballyshannon Cross.
Cows on the road are no joke, so take care out there.
Back to Dublin city centre, and there’s a car broken down on North Wall Quay at the Samuel Beckett Bridge, which may explain the heavy delays being seen there.
The right lane is blocked.
In Cork, the overturned car at Ballydehob between Bantry and Skibbereen has now been cleared.
Better news in Dublin, the broken down car on the Samuel Beckett Bridge has been moved. Hopefully that’ll get things moving now.
In Donegal there’s been a crash on the N13 Letterkenny / Derry Road at Newtown Cunningham. Diversions are in place.
In Offaly / Westmeath there’s debris on the M6 motorway between the Moate and Tullamore exits. Drive safe.
The troublesome truck that broke down at the Red Cow interchange has been cleared. Delays remain however.
Ok guys, that’s going to do it for this morning’s liveblog.
Thanks for your company and, as always, travel safe out there. See ya pals.
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