CORK COMMUTERS WERE left sitting in a traffic jam this morning after a tractor towing a stack of three trucks caused the closure of one lane of the Jack Lynch tunnel.

The tractor triggered an over-height alert from the tunnel’s newly-installed sensors when it trundled into the southbound bore of the key traffic artery at around 7:45am this morning.

Gardaí were called to the scene and one lane of the tunnel was closed for a period of time, causing traffic congestion to mount.

The tunnel’s height detection system was upgraded last month and when activated it stops vehicles that are over the 4.6-meter height limit.

The new system was responsible for some incorrect over-height detections when it first became operational. These issues led to lane closures and traffic problems.

However, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which operates the tunnel, says the issue has been resolved, the system is now fully operational and detections will be clearly identified if they are over the regulation height.  

A TII spokesperson said this morning’s incident and one earlier this week were both examples of the system working correctly.

“The event early this week was due to a vehicle that was correctly identified as being over the regulated height and was redirected. Additionally, this morning’s event proves that the system is important,” the spokesman said.