N8/N25/N40 - Dunkettle Interchange [under construction]

FullBeard wrote: »

Some excellent CGI of the proposed changes after completion superimposed onto existing aerial photographs here: http://n8n25dunkettle.jacobs.com/docs/32102066%20Dunkettle%20EIS%20VOL%203%20Figures%20-%20Fig%201.1.1%20to%20Fig%202.4.1.PDF

Nice images indeed. I like the way they used photos of the current set up which includes heavy tailbacks in all directions, and the superimposed images have no tailbacks at all.

Looks fairly detailed and thought out. Can't imagine it will be an easy job to get this done. This disruption may be considerable. About the only part of it I don't like is the M8 > N8 Cork movement which is a bit clumsy involving an eastbound turn and then through two roundabouts to come back west into Cork. Now I don't know how many people would be doing this but it just seems a little awkward.

The Oral Hearing is now ongoing

Interchange upgrade ‘vital for growth of Cork’
By Sean O’Riordan
Friday, November 16, 2012
An upgrade of the Dunkettle/Jack Lynch Tunnel interchange is "vital for the growth of Cork", a Bord Pleanála oral hearing was told yesterday.
In the event of the proposed €90m upgrade being approved, it would signal the commencement of other major projects in the region.

To date, traffic congestion has been a setback to new projects.

Cork County Council’s senior planner, Andrew Hind, said the improvement plan was vital for Cork.

He referred to the Port of Cork’s plans to build a deep-water terminal in Ringaskiddy which were previously rejected by An Bord Pleanála amid concerns the extra heavy goods traffic generated would prove too much for the already over-capacity junction.

Mr Hind said he wanted to see a multimillion-euro housing project, proposed by O’Flynn Construction at Dunkettle, proceed. It was rejected by An Bord Pleanála for the same congestion reason. <snip>

Around 30 known archaeological sites are dotted around the designated project area, most of which are post-medieval.

NRA experts said they would carry out "test-trenching and metal detector surveys" to establish if there were other sites of interest.

Dr Jervis Good of the National Parks & Wildlife Service made recommendations to An Bord Pleanála inspector Jane Dennehy, which he said would ensure that otters and little egret roosts on the Glashaboy Estuary are protected during construction and thereafter.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/interchange-upgrade-vital-for-growth-of-cork-214124.html

From the sounds of it the NRA are able to accommodate any requests from interested parties in ensuring businesses and residents are being looked after.
Well, the residents were chancing their arm looking for double glazing for their houses but they dont seem to be getting that, but rather a silent smooth surface on the road that reduces noise.

BTW: theres a road round the corner from me with it recently installed and the quiet surface is indeed something to behold. Theres a much lighter zipping noise compared to the louder deeper rumble of the regular surfacing.

Medium to long term plans for that is to replace the Dunkettle Roundabout with traffic lights.

[For those that dont know the Dunkettle Roundabout (where the Tivoli DC interacts with the north road to Glanmire) is different from the Dunkettle Interchange which is where the M8/N25/N40 go together]

The Dunkettle Roundabout as it is is really stupid. You have tonnes of traffic coming out of Cork which has to give way at the roundabout to far, far fewer cars coming from the N25 east going to Glanmire. Its just silly.

So the Oral Hearing was last week.

How long more, typically, would it take ABP to announce their decision?

Good News - This has been approved by ABP

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/100m-dunkettle-interchange-project-given-green-light-231374.html

An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to National Roads Authority (NRA) plans for a €100m upgrade of the Jack Lynch Tunnel/Dunkettle interchange.


The board voted by a three-to-one majority to approve the scheme, at one of the country’s busiest junctions.

It also approved the issuing of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) which are required as the NRA needs to acquire land to construct some elevated new slip roads.

More than 90,000 daily vehicle movements have been recorded at the junction.

An Bord Pleanála agreed with an NRA submission that an upgrade was needed to alleviate the level of congestion currently being experienced at the junction during peak times.

Despite some objections, the board felt the proposed development would not be likely to have any significant adverse effects on the environment.

The board, however, imposed a number of conditions.

They include a proviso the NRA carry out a number of mitigation measures to ensure no adverse impact on flora and fauna in the area.

Automatic traffic counters will also have to be installed in the area and the NRA will be required to carry out a review of traffic flow at the planned upgraded junction every two years.

Plans for a proposed cycle path on a section of the upgraded junction have been refused because the board considered it could contribute to accidents.

An oral hearing took place at the Silver Springs Moran Hotel over two days last December.

At the hearing, the NRA’s team of experts argued congestion was costing the State and the upgrade would save commuters a significant amount of time.

The plan involves creating a number of dedicated local access roads around the junction, thus separating those making local journeys from regional and national journeys.

The signalised roundabout at the northern end of the tunnel will be removed for total free flow and a dedicated slip road will be built on the city side of the tunnel so traffic can directly access the northbound lanes of the M8.

NRA spokesman Sean O’Neill said he welcomed the Bord Pleanála decision.

“We would like to move forward on the scheme but it is subject to funding being made available. It will cost in the region of €100m,” he said.

The decision is also likely to be welcomed by the Port of Cork which was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a major new cargo-handling terminal in Ringaskiddy. The main reason for the refusal was the increased HGV traffic this would generate would have further impacted on tunnel congestion.

The port authority, meanwhile, is about to resubmit planning for a scaled-down terminal in Ringaskiddy.

Great news. I can see this progressing quickly, due to it being Corks version of Newlands Cross. Once the Sarsfield/Bandon flyovers are done, the impetus will move to this.

Shame that the provision for cyclists is gone, it would be great to have a cycle lane from the city to midelton. Im sure there a good few in little island and carrigtwohill working there that would enjoy the challenge of a cycle.

spacetweek wrote: »

They would be better off using the local road network. I presume this'll be possible, but it's a bit hard to see on the renders.

There is a small private road between the glanmire roundabout and the dunkettle, heading in the little island direction, it can bring you under the motorway, and onwards towards little island etc, they should look at developing that properly perhaps.

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&ll=51.907558,-8.391044&spn=0.005408,0.011619&t=h&z=17

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Any ideas on when this scheme may commence or how long the build might take ?

Wonder will they redesignate the Glanmire bypass as the M40 ?

The Glanmire bypass as the M40 would make sense if it eventually becomes part of the Northern Ring Road. But going west from north of Glanmire to the N20 Limerick road somewhere near Blarney is a hilly and tricky build, and from there to the N22 is a lot more difficult probably involving a tunnel, so I wouldn't bet on it for a long time. Until then its probably best to leave it as the M8.

As for construction starting, I suspect there is too much building as it is on the N40, so finances aside, after the Bandon and Sarsfield road roundabout are completed.

The current list is basically as follows, that we know of, for the PPP process.

N11/Newlands
M17/18 Gort to Tuam
N25 New Ross
N11 Enniscorthy.
N6 Galway bypass (whenever it clears the courts).

They are looking for new schemes to put in the pipeline. I would GUESS, and this is JUST ME GUESSING, that a good combination of schemes for another PPP would be N22 Ballyvourney - Macroom coupled with M8/25 Dunkettle.