Ireland's new motorway network

[JD47]

Originally Posted by spacetweek

Do you know them personally? I get the impression the decision to refuse Slane was unanimous, so they're all to blame.

People describing ABP as "unelected" are missing the point, that's a red herring. They don't need to be elected, just accountable. If they take a decision that's considered by many to be against the national interest, their decision can be appealed, and I believe this is going to happen.

No I dont know them but the ones I am talking about is the ones who do vote for highrise and change.

[Catmalojin]

Good news for Cork:

Dual carriageway to get €1m, 6-month revamp
By Sean O’Riordan

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The National Roads Authority is to carry out a €1m revamp of the dual carriageway between the Jack Lynch Tunnel and Bishopstown and rename it the N40 in the first phase of creating an orbital route for Cork city.

The work, in conjunction with Cork City Council and Cork County Council, will take six months to complete.

Spokesman Sean O’Neill said proposed improvements involve putting up signs designating junctions along the route, which connects the M8 with the Poulavone roundabout and the N22.

"Work on the re-signing will commence next week. This re-signage programme is the first step [in what will] ultimately become a full ring road servicing access to and from Cork city," Mr O’Neill said.

He said the new numbering system will allow for new junctions to be added when future works are completed.

The following junctions will be numbered as follows: Junction 1 Poulavone;

* Junction 2 at Curraheen;

* Junction 3 N71 to Bandon;

* Junction 4 Sarsfield Rd;

* Junction 5 Togher;

* Junction 6 Kinsale Rd/airport;

* Junction 7 South Douglas Rd;

* Junction 8 Douglas Rd;

* Junction 9 N28 Bloomfield/Ringaskiddy;

* Junction 10 Mahon;

* Junction 11 M8/N25 Dunkettle to Dublin/Waterford.

Work is advancing on building the multimillion-euro flyovers at the Sarsfield and Bandon Rd roundabouts which will form the final part of the southern orbital route.

Mr O’Neill said while a general route had been picked for the northern section of the orbital route, there is no date available for work to commence. It is likely to be several years before the Government gives the go-ahead for the project..

The northern section will start on the M8 just north of Glanmire, swing west to connect with the Mallow/Limerick road, and finally hook up to the Bandon and Macroom roads near the Sarsfield Rd roundabout.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, April 12, 2012

[sotonsi]

They are simply changing the signs (and they need to, given the renumbering), and while they are at it, giving helpful junction numbers.

I'm surprised that it costs as little as €1 million.

[thebig C]

Any pics of how the fly-overs in Cork are progressing?

[odlum833]

M1 widening proceeding fairly quickly on the mainline and at exit 4

[JD47]

Thats good to see Odlum. Cheers

[spacetweek]

I'm amazed how wide the M1 is there. There is room for 4 lanes each way at least.

[Dvblvnia]

Well the current works are getting it towards that, spacetweek! It's good to see we have a bit of spare capacity in the road network - increased traffic flows necessitate the upgrade from 2 to 3 lanes either way and in the future if traffic continues to increase, we can put in the fourth lane. Simples!

[JD47]

Originally Posted by Dvblvnia

Well the current works are getting it towards that, spacetweek! It's good to see we have a bit of spare capacity in the road network - increased traffic flows necessitate the upgrade from 2 to 3 lanes either way and in the future if traffic continues to increase, we can put in the fourth lane. Simples!

I am not an engineer so thats why I am asking this. How will they add extra lanes when there is bridges in the way with pillars in between the roads. Will they move those pillars or what will they do and also how would they add extra lanes to the bottlenecks when there is houses and pubs built on those roads such as the Beehive on the N11 etc....
How would they make them roads two lanes? I just cant get my head around it

[thebig C]

Originally Posted by JD47

I am not an engineer so thats why I am asking this. How will they add extra lanes when there is bridges in the way with pillars in between the roads. Will they move those pillars or what will they do and also how would they add extra lanes to the bottlenecks when there is houses and pubs built on those roads such as the Beehive on the N11 etc....
How would they make them roads two lanes? I just cant get my head around it

Obviously the Bridge supports in the central reservation can't be touched. However, you might have noticed that many motorway bridges have paved sloped areas just off the hard shoulder (often with grafiti all over them)....in the original M50 widening the sloped suppoert were removed and presumablt the vertical pillars they ajuted were reinforced. The net effect is to give an extra 12-15 feet inside the hard shoulder.

[Dvblvnia]

Originally Posted by thebig C

Obviously the Bridge supports in the central reservation can't be touched. However, you might have noticed that many motorway bridges have paved sloped areas just off the hard shoulder (often with grafiti all over them)....in the original M50 widening the sloped suppoert were removed and presumablt the vertical pillars they ajuted were reinforced. The net effect is to give an extra 12-15 feet inside the hard shoulder.

Yeah, I remember there was some great examples of engineering ingenuity during the M50 widening works. They got those junctions re-ordered in quite a clever way which they could repeat when widening the M1.

[JD47]

Originally Posted by thebig C

Obviously the Bridge supports in the central reservation can't be touched. However, you might have noticed that many motorway bridges have paved sloped areas just off the hard shoulder (often with grafiti all over them)....in the original M50 widening the sloped suppoert were removed and presumablt the vertical pillars they ajuted were reinforced. The net effect is to give an extra 12-15 feet inside the hard shoulder.

Come to think of it I do remember. Thanks for clearing that up C but I have seen bridges on the M1 with pillars so what will they do with them. I always wondered how they build on to motorways. It does look like a complicated job.

[Catmalojin]

Meanwhile, in Cork:

FLYOVERS REACH HALF WAY POINT AND ON SCHEDULE FOR JULY 2013 OPENING

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2012


THE SCENE CURRENTLY AT THE BANDON ROAD ROUNDABOUT FLYOVER. PICTURE: JIM COUGHLAN

Despite the recent poor weather, work on Cork city’s Sarsfield and Bandon Road roundabout flyovers is on schedule and set for completion next July.

It is almost one year since the sod was turned on the project and rapid progress has been made on the 98m flyovers since.

The Bandon Road roundabout flyover is largely complete, with the final bridge beams at the eastern edge of the roundabout set to be installed next week.

Engineers say that construction on the project has gone largely to plan, with significant ground work taking place to the south of the South Ring Road between both roundabouts.

Major piling work has also taken place near the Sarsfield Road roundabout, to support the new road network.

Construction work has also started on the column supports for the Sarsfield Road roundabout and motorists can expect to see rapid progress in the coming months.


THE FIRST BRIDGE BEAMS BEING PUT IN PLACE IN JANUARY 2012 AT THE BANDON ROAD ROUNDABOUT FLYOVER. PICTURE: EDDIE O’HARE.

The flyovers are being built by SIAC construction. The company, founded in Cork in 1913, has grown to become one of Ireland’s biggest construction firms, completing projects like the M50 upgrade, the Boyne Bridge in County Meath and the Ballincollig Green Route.

When the 50m Kinsale Road roundabout flyover opened to traffic in 2006, attention immediately turned to the two other main roundabouts on the South Ring Road.

It had been hoped that work would start almost immediately on the flyovers but Cork had to wait another five years before construction began.

Even then, Cork was lucky that funding was approved, given that so many infrastructural projects were put on hold when the Government finances were dramatically reduced.

As he turned the sod on the project last July, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said it was one of only a few road projects that would be started in 2011.

With the project set for completion next July, thoughts will then move to the next big Cork projects with the Dunkettle Interchange, the Ringaskiddy upgrade, the M20 Cork to Limerick Motorway and the Macroom bypass top of the list.


A MODEL OF HOW THE SARSFIELD ROAD ROUNDABOUT FLYOVER WILL LOOK LIKE.


A MODEL OF HOW THE BANDON ROAD ROUNDABOUT FLYOVER WILL LOOK LIKE.

Evening Echo

[belfastuniguy]

Has the motorway and road maintenance budget been cut? Was down south a few weeks ago at a wedding in Dublin and the motorway was in shocking need of some maintenance, the central reservations and hard shoulders were full of debris and very overgrown.

Some of the other roads in and around Dublin are in a shocking state of repair, really aren't too kind on the wheels and suspension.

[dubshee]

Originally Posted by belfastuniguy

Has the motorway and road maintenance budget been cut? Was down south a few weeks ago at a wedding in Dublin and the motorway was in shocking need of some maintenance, the central reservations and hard shoulders were full of debris and very overgrown.

Some of the other roads in and around Dublin are in a shocking state of repair, really aren't too kind on the wheels and suspension.

I agree that they don't seem to remove debris fast enough from the motorways but most of the major roads around Dublin seem to be in decent shape. Where or which roads are you referring to? I know west Dublin, M50 and the M4 are all in pretty good shape as most of it is new.

[Viking74]

Originally Posted by belfastuniguy

Has the motorway and road maintenance budget been cut? Was down south a few weeks ago at a wedding in Dublin and the motorway was in shocking need of some maintenance, the central reservations and hard shoulders were full of debris and very overgrown.

Some of the other roads in and around Dublin are in a shocking state of repair, really aren't too kind on the wheels and suspension.

I'm not sure where you're referring to either. I don't think the roads around Dublin are bad at all these days. A lot of damage was done to some of them a couple of years ago after the snow and ice, bit i think most of the damage has been fixed up at this stage, especially in the Phoenix park which has been completely resurfaced. The medians and hard shoulders, like everywhere else are probably overgrown due to to all the torrential rain we've had recently. Although I think the roads budget has been cut, and spending has been cut right back, this means no new motorways, but there is still money available to maintain the existing network.

[Dvblvnia]

Originally Posted by Viking74

I'm not sure where you're referring to either. I don't think the roads around Dublin are bad at all these days. A lot of damage was done to some of them a couple of years ago after the snow and ice, bit i think most of the damage has been fixed up at this stage, especially in the Phoenix park which has been completely resurfaced. The medians and hard shoulders, like everywhere else are probably overgrown due to to all the torrential rain we've had recently. Although I think the roads budget has been cut, and spending has been cut right back, this means no new motorways, but there is still money available to maintain the existing network.

Yeah, I'd be along the same lines as you, Viking74. While I can't speak for the rest of the country, Dublin's roads seem to have gotten better in the last two years with a lot of work done on them before last winter to prep them for another potential cold snap. You're quite right about the Phoenix Park area. That used to have the bumpiest surfaces which shook you if you were on the top deck of a double-decker bus. Now the roads are silky smooth and a pleasure to be on. We also have shiny new roadmarkings into the bargain. One area which could do with attention though is the dual-carriageway through Palmerstown. The central medians there have done quite enough for local biodiversity already and are in dire need of a mowing and weeding.

[JD47]

Originally Posted by Dvblvnia

One area which could do with attention though is the dual-carriageway through Palmerstown. The central medians there have done quite enough for local biodiversity already and are in dire need of a mowing and weeding.

I live up that way and I dont have a problem with the dual-carriageway. I dont seem to notice anything wrong with it if I am honest but then again, I wouldn't say there was something wrong with a road, even if it led into a ditch.

[odlum833]

They can't cut the grass when it's lashing rain every day....I am also unclear as to what road uniguy is specifically mentioning? I have to say myself the motorways seem fine to me. They are wide central medians for the most part so hedges and grass in this type of weather grow very quickly.

[dubshee]

Perhaps the eu funded roads down here just "appear" to be in shocking disrepair compared to the Westminster funded autobahns up north eh ;O). That said come to think of it I did see a dead cat on the M50 on the way back from the airport the other day.....and there was a wee bit of tarmac missing on the Palmerstown bypass. Shocking indeed.