M6/4 Motorway Galway to Dublin (for discussing completed sections)

11-01-2009 5:00am

A bit OT, but do they need any more motorways up North?

L1011 · 11-01-2009 1:11pm

Deleted User wrote: »

A bit OT, but do they need any more motorways up North?

One all the way to Derry would be helpful. They're planning to make most of this route middling-quality DC (lots of LILO's but no median breaches) in the next decade though.

Amtmann · 11-01-2009 5:48pm

Why did the NRA construct the Athlone Bypass around the north of the town? Surely south of it would have been more direct for the M6.

BluntGuy · 11-01-2009 5:58pm

Arguably the NRA should've just bypassed Athlone again with the M6 to south of the town. Ultimately that may be what's required anyway...

However, there are obvious drawbacks to that decision which I'm sure I don't need to go into...

As for the Athlone Bypass, not much, and I'm sure some of you have seen it, but it gives you a good idea as to the quality of the bypass (note the LILO at 0:48):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PgcuzEGuLQ

Carawaystick · 12-01-2009 12:45am

N55 to Longford/cavan and Nwhatever to Roscommon leave from that side of Athone, there'd be a reasonable amount of through traffic left if the shorter south route was built

L1011 · 12-01-2009 1:14am

Furet wrote: »

Why did the NRA construct the Athlone Bypass around the north of the town? Surely south of it would have been more direct for the M6.

The bypass route selection significantly predates the NRA - earliest reference I can find in Dail debates is from 1985 stating (actually blaming!) 'the previous government' for the commencement of the work.

"Deputy O'Rourke claimed yesterday that the Athlone bypass was developed by Fianna Fáil. In fact, the application for the bridge order was made on 2 October 1981 but it was the Tánaiste, Deputy Spring, who on 15 March 1983 ordered the public inquiry and on 28 May 1984 the present Minister, Deputy Kavanagh, directed that the scheme should proceed. This Government and the previous Coalition of 1982 have provided £7.5 million to date for the scheme whereas Fianna Fáil provided less than £900,000 for preliminary expenses."

I don't know when it opened but it was before 1994.

edit: it was definitely open by 1991; its referenced heavily in debate then.

Gonzo · 12-01-2009 2:00am

Deleted User wrote: »

A bit OT, but do they need any more motorways up North?

I think they do, I know the A1 is being upgraded but I wish they would do it properly and have it all as motorway so that there would be full motorway from Belfast to Dublin. When your driving from Belfast and take that Sprucefield junction onto the A1 the road just feels way inferior all the way as far as the new section of the A1 south of Newry. They could reroute the M1 from the spucefield junction all the way to the NI/ROI border and rename the current M1 motorway west of the Sprucefield junction to M4. I also think the Westlink A12 should be motorway as well now that its all upgraded and looking very good. The M2 Ballymena bypass should also be continued as Motorway back to the main section of M2 so there isnt that big gap.

and about the Athlone M6, I do feel why couldnt they just built it to the south of Athlone as that is a much shorter route, the current N6 bypass could be renamed to something else and serve as an Athlone inner relief road.

L1011 · 12-01-2009 10:16am

For the remaining traffic on the A26, motorway joining the bits of M2 would be excessive - the original plan was for the motorway to Derry to be routed by that way hence the motorway grade bypass.

They are going to lengthen the M2 a little bit to get rid of the current situation where you have to go up on to a roundabout and back down again. Other than that its dual all the way; and any hypothetical money spent on creating a motorway here would be better spent dualling the A26 further towards Coleraine - this is also long-term planned.

veryangryman · 12-01-2009 12:23pm

Gonzo wrote: »

and about the Athlone M6, I do feel why couldnt they just built it to the south of Athlone as that is a much shorter route, the current N6 bypass could be renamed to something else and serve as an Athlone inner relief road.

Were a bit plucky here in Ath...We had a bypass before even Dublin did :eek:

I cant see us getting a second one before Dublin does. Would be complete overkill. The road is adequate for the traffic levels. What should be done is our own one upgraded properly on the Roscommon side of the bridge (NOT to Motorway mind..)

FWIW I think they really ****ed up by not making a proper Birr Exit. Kilmartins remains a huge bottleneck for Biffo commuters going to Athlone.

KevR · 12-01-2009 3:52pm

veryangryman wrote: »

The road is adequate for the traffic levels. What should be done is our own one upgraded properly on the Roscommon side of the bridge (NOT to Motorway mind..)

It's not a bad stretch of road. Some not too major junction improvements and some resurfacing work and it wouldn't be too far off motorway standard. The tight-ish curves is the main thing holding it back from it possibly being m'way standard. The surface to me looks like it has seen better days but it's still not too bad.

I think they should re-classify it to motorway regardless of any upgrades - to protect against anymore access points being built onto it. They could still keep the 100kmh limit even though it would be motorway. Only drawback would be that learner drivers and all traffic forbidden from motorways would have to go into the town centre to cross the Shannon but, in my opinion, it should still be re-classified

munchkin_utd · 12-01-2009 4:15pm

KevR wrote: »

.... Only drawback would be that learner drivers and all traffic forbidden from motorways would have to go into the town centre to cross the Shannon but, in my opinion, it should still be re-classified

The learner driver thing is a total red herring.

By law learner drivers MUST be accompanied by a driver with a full licence when driving.
If the learner & fully licenced driver want to travel along the motorway, then just pull over and swap places and let the driver with the full licence drive the motorway section.
Or if they know that a motorway is on their route then just let the fully licenced driver drive the journey.

I cant see what the big deal is.
Or am I missing something?
(i.e. are the guards now enforcing the rule that you must be accompanied when on a Learner Permit? And if not then sure if you can break one road law regarding learner licences then why not another?)

veryangryman · 12-01-2009 4:20pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

The learner driver thing is a total red herring.

By law learner drivers MUST be accompanied by a driver with a full licence when driving.
If the learner & fully licenced driver want to travel along the motorway, then just pull over and swap places and let the driver with the full licence drive the motorway section.
Or if they know that a motorway is on their route then just let the fully licenced driver drive the journey.

I cant see what the big deal is.
Or am I missing something?
(i.e. are the guards now enforcing the rule that you must be accompanied when on a Learner Permit? And if not then sure if you can break one road law regarding learner licences then why not another?)

Laws are only laws when enforced. Mobile phone usage, driving in right hand lane on Motorways, parking on double yellow lines and indicating like a plank despite having no intention to turn (you know who you are Mr Idiot that almost killed me the other day :mad:) are all fine examples of the cops good work here...

KevR · 12-01-2009 4:37pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

The learner driver thing is a total red herring.

By law learner drivers MUST be accompanied by a driver with a full licence when driving.
If the learner & fully licenced driver want to travel along the motorway, then just pull over and swap places and let the driver with the full licence drive the motorway section.
Or if they know that a motorway is on their route then just let the fully licenced driver drive the journey.

I cant see what the big deal is.
Or am I missing something?
(i.e. are the guards now enforcing the rule that you must be accompanied when on a Learner Permit? And if not then sure if you can break one road law regarding learner licences then why not another?)

Very true. Back when I was a learner it was the done thing to drive unaccompanied. It was widely accepted for some reason or another. I never drove on a motorway when I was a learner which is funny because I was breaking the law everyday by driving unaccompanied so why not break another law and just drive on a motorway?

I think it is a bit less widely accepted by people in general these days but the Gardai do need to start clamping down on unaccompanied L drivers and other stuff like the things veryangryman listed.

Back to the point I made about certain people having to go into the town to cross the River Shannon if the Bypass was re-classified: it won't make a difference to learner drivers but, as the law stands, it would make a difference, for example, to tractor drivers who have a tractor not capable of 50kmh.

Still think it should be protected against anymore access points by re-classifying it.

L1011 · 12-01-2009 4:50pm

KevR wrote: »

Very true. Back when I was a learner it was the done thing to drive unaccompanied. It was widely accepted for some reason or another. I never drove on a motorway when I was a learner which is funny because I was breaking the law everyday by driving unaccompanied so why not break another law and just drive on a motorway?

When I was a learner I drove unaccompanied, on motorways, in the North... 'the done thing' in West Donegal was to treat it as a green-coloured full licence with higher insurance...

12-01-2009 8:53pm

The ONLY reason for the Athlone bypass needs to stay open to all traffic i.e. not be reclassified to motorway, is to allow agricultural vehicles to cross the river without going through the town.

The road does need some protection from VI's wanting to build additional junctions, there is at least one councillor lobbying on behalf of a developer who wants to build another junction!

Chris_533976 · 12-01-2009 9:00pm

God that kind of junk pisses me off and is exactly why the Athlone bypass needs to be motorway.

In the long term, I'd suggest building an extra bridge (or two) in the town, and closing up two if not three of the junctions on the bypass.

Carawaystick · 13-01-2009 12:22am

Surely abp could prevent any inappropriate developments being built once the NRA make observations regarding anything they feel inappropriate.

I don't think any southern bypass could be built while there are still towns on major routes with chronic traffic problems caused by main roads going through the heart of them. Adare, Longford, Galway, New Ross, Claregalway etc.

I can't see any cost benefit analysis showing building extra bridges or closing accesses to the N6 making sense. the country is broke, the N6 bypass of Athlone is not a traffic problem, and when the new road to Balinasloe opens there won't be any issue at the western end. I mean it won't be a gold plated solution, but on a european scale of solutions, the bypass of Belfast has a ~80 kmh limit, as does Barcelona. Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse all have 90 kmh limits on their orbitals. Athlone has a higher speedlimit, and athlone is a wee bit smaller...

KevR · 25-01-2009 1:36pm

Took a spin out around near Junction 19 (that's the junction with the N18) today because I passed by there at night last week and it was pitch black but I was sure I could see the outline of the new overbridge in place in the darkness. Went out today in the daylight and, of course, there was no overbridge there.

Not a huge amount of progress since I was last here in daylight (they must be concentrating more on a different section). There's a crane parked beside the bridge foundations. Maybe a sign that they will start work on putting the bridge in soon? Once the bridge is in they can move N18 traffic onto the bridge and bulldoze the old N18 - which will make life easier for them because they won't have keep crossing the busy N18 with their machinery.

Only other thing to note is that the last time I was here over the Christmas there was a small bit of a flood just West of the current N18 and beside where the new N18 overbridge will be. They had a machine there today pumping the water out.

Can see the crane in this picture and you can see that the flood has almost been pumped dry. Click for full size image

PS - what a smashing day in cold old Galway

(I thought the forecast said we were going to have heavy rain?!)

KevR · 27-01-2009 2:27pm

Anyone have any updates about progress on the Athlone-Ballinasloe section or the Ballinasloe side of the Galway-Ballinsloe section?

I'm going on my University work placement in Athlone for 5 months starting in April. I'll be driving to Athlone from Galway and back every day. I'm sure I'll be able to keep track of progess up that end more from April. Although I do really wish that I could drive on the new motorway every day rather than tracking its progess. It'd be so much faster than going south via Loughrea and through Ballinasloe town on the N6..

veryangryman · 27-01-2009 2:30pm

KevR wrote: »

Anyone have any updates about progress on the Athlone-Ballinasloe section or the Ballinasloe side of the Galway-Ballinsloe section?

I'm going on my University work placement in Athlone for 5 months starting in April. I'll be driving to Athlone from Galway and back every day. I'm sure I'll be able to keep track of progess up that end more from April. Although I do really wish that I could drive on the new motorway every day rather than tracking its progess. It'd be so much faster than going south via Loughrea and through Ballinasloe town on the N6..

Haha! You have to drive through Ballinasloe!

27-01-2009 2:40pm

The new link road at monksland to the west of Athlone is progressing well, the western roundabout is about 2/3 complete. Once that's complete all traffic will be diverted onto this "scenic" route :rolleyes: while the N6 is cut over to its new route, almost certain to add a few minutes to the journey during peak times.

?Cee?view · 27-01-2009 3:32pm

Deleted User wrote: »

The new link road at monksland to the west of Athlone is progressing well, the western roundabout is about 2/3 complete. Once that's complete all traffic will be diverted onto this "scenic" route :rolleyes: while the N6 is cut over to its new route, almost certain to add a few minutes to the journey during peak times.

Has anyone any idea what the travel distance will be from Athlone to Galway when the motorway is open? Will it be shorter or longer than it is now?

Obviously, the time it will take will be shorter, but just wondering about the distance.

KevR · 27-01-2009 4:15pm

churchview wrote: »

Has anyone any idea what the travel distance will be from Athlone to Galway when the motorway is open? Will it be shorter or longer than it is now?

Obviously, the time it will take will be shorter, but just wondering about the distance.

I think the distance should be shorter. The Galway-Ballinasloe scheme won't dip to the South for Oranmore and Loughrea like the N6 does. The M6 from Galway to Ballinasloe will be quite a bit more direct.

Not sure about the Atlone-Ballinasloe scheme though so don't know what it'll be like from Galway-Athlone overall.

serfboard · 27-01-2009 4:32pm

KevR wrote: »

I think the distance should be shorter. The Galway-Ballinasloe scheme won't dip to the South for Oranmore and Loughrea like the N6 does. The M6 from Galway to Ballinasloe will be quite a bit more direct.

I'd agree with that. Have a look on ViaMichelin and you can definitely see that the alignment is not as far South as the existing road, so it'll be shorter.

27-01-2009 7:23pm

Another update, the bridge between Athone & Ballinasloe appears to be complete, just the embankments either side to carry the road need to be finished.
Work on these embankments that will carry the old N6 (R whatever) are well advanced.

Chris_533976 · 27-01-2009 7:37pm

Hows the Suck bridge coming along?

kaizersoze · 27-01-2009 8:29pm

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Hows the Suck bridge coming along?

They're working on the deck atm but still alot to do. The section now in place just spans the island and half the river channel. It still has to be connected to the banks on both sides. That can't begin till after the 1st of April due to the work embargo by the regional fisheries board.
This is the most recent picture I have.

serfboard · 28-01-2009 4:37pm

kaizersoze wrote: »

They're working on the deck atm but still alot to do. The section now in place just spans the island and half the river channel. It still has to be connected to the banks on both sides. That can't begin till after the 1st of April due to the work embargo by the regional fisheries board.
This is the most recent picture I have.

Thanks for the photo. Seems it never rains in Sunny County Galway

bazzer06 · 28-01-2009 6:21pm

Just wondering since this is of considerable length how is it gonna be designated?

It being the case that Loughrea will ne quite the distance from the m6 could we be looking at an n34? (that is the next available one right?)

Carawaystick · 29-01-2009 12:05am

I asked them before. The link road will be the N65, which currently comes from Portumna to join the N6 east of Loughrea. There's a distant plan to build a ring road for the N66 from the western roundabout on the Loughrea bypass to the existing N66.

The route of the link road was cleared but there was no hardcore down last weekend at it's junction with the N6

M6/4 Motorway Galway to Dublin (for discussing completed sections)

Comments