From ducklings in danger to multi-vehicle pile-ups, not a day goes by without an incident of some kind on the M50.
he 45km motorway that encircles Dublin and links it with the transport arteries to the rest of the country is Ireland’s busiest road, with close to 125,000 vehicles using several sections on an average day.
But with so much traffic, it is inevitable that accidents and incidents occur, and when they do it can grind sections of the system to a halt and lead to massive gridlock and tailbacks.
Some incidents are resolved quickly, like debris removal by an Incident Support Unit, or a broken down vehicle being towed from the hard shoulder.
But others, such as a serious collision that involves the emergency services and heavy lifting equipment, can mean closures of sections of the motorway for hours.
Obstructions on the M50 are a real headache and often lead to temporary closures of lanes or sections of the road.
A lot of obstructions are caused by debris from trucks or material falling from loads being transported.
These range from truck mudguards and tyres, ratchet straps, bumpers and fenders to pallets, coils of rope, pallets, as well as material being transported to dumps and recycling facilities such as skip bags, tree branches, and pieces of wood.
On May 22, there was a report that three porta loos fell off a truck at Junction 11 northbound at 3.30pm. On June 27, just before 4pm there was a report of scaffolding scattered across the Auxiliary Lane and Lane 1 between Junctions 6 and 7. A rolling road block was needed to clear it, which involved the input of gardaí.
On July 14, a roadblock was also required to remove a concrete block from Lane 3 between Junctions 12 and 13.
Deer, dogs, foxes, badgers and even ducklings cause incidents on the M50 as well, with many reports of animals being spotted dead and alive on the motorway.
On April 10 at 18.51 there were a number of ducklings reported on the northbound carriageway between Junctions 3 and 4. Gardaí rescued them and transported them to a vet in Kildare.
There were more than 20 incidents of pedestrians and cyclists on the motorway between January and August this year.
There were also eleven reported incidents of vehicle fires on the M50 in the same time period.
