M1 New Section of D3 (three lanes) at Swords

amacachi · 16-12-2011 2:42am

I said when it was built that it was a stupid layout. Obviously if people drove properly it would be fine but it was obvious how things would pan out. Last night was the 3rd time I've seen an accident southbound between the Airport and M50 junction which looks a simple enough bit of road to negotiate, hardly surprising northbound is gonna have plenty of accidents.

Carawaystick · 20-12-2011 3:44am

There's trailer signs now and cones at the end of the third lane and the third lane on the overhead gantry at Holywell is X'ed off with a red X like it should have been from day one.

Scipio76 · 21-12-2011 8:03pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

There should be a tender announcement soon - the intention was for construction to start this month. However if I remember correctly, work on the previous section of M1 was due to commence at the end of 2010 - however, it started early 2011 - with this in mind, the section across the Broadmeadow may start early in the new year (again, a short delay of a couple of months).

I can't offer anything more concrete than that.

SIAC Construction will be starting work on an extension of the D3 as far as J4 in the new year.

cargo · 28-12-2011 2:17pm

Scipio76 wrote: »

SIAC Construction will be starting work on an extension of the D3 as far as J4 in the new year.

Anyone have an idea of date yet? The email on the previous page here said the job was expected to be done within a year. I wonder how long the online bit will take seeing as the upgrade also includes work up on the J4 overbridge lanes etc.?

Suppose this will impact down to the mainline anyway as there'll probably be queues caused by the construction work up there.

Bit of pain for a few months but will be worth it in the end. Then we'll just start complaining that it should be done out to Jullianstown etc.. :-)

celticbest · 05-01-2012 3:59pm

Latest : Contract was awared on 06.12.2011 to SIAC,

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN300035

Thanks to Irish and Proud for the info in the 'Tender Watch for Roads!' thread,

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Thursday 5th January 2012 - 1 Notice so far:

1) Award (06/12/2011): M1 Swords Improvement Scheme Junction 3 (Drinan) to Junction 4 (Lissenhall) (Fingal CC)...

Regards!

Irish and Proud · 06-01-2012 2:02pm

Scipio76 wrote: »

SIAC Construction will be starting work on an extension of the D3 as far as J4 in the new year.

Yesterday's notice on etenders would seem to confirm the above! The contract was awarded on 6th December 2011 - would expect to see activity on the M1 very soon. I wonder if the R132 bus corridor (along the Lissenhall DC) is to be included in the works - I initially thought that it would, but neither the contract notice nor the award notice makes any reference to the bus corridor.

Roll on the M1 works though!

Irish and Proud · 06-01-2012 2:23pm

celticbest wrote: »

Latest : Contract was awared on 06.12.2011 to SIAC,

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN300035

Thanks to Irish and Proud for the info in the 'Tender Watch for Roads!' thread,

Many thanks for posting the link Celticbest - I had intended to do so myself but ran out of time. I don't think it'll be long before we see the works commencing. Bearing in mind that it wasn't long since the official line was 'there's no funding available to widen the M1 to J4 Lissenhall', one would wonder does this now bode well for widening projects like the M4 to J7 (Maynooth) and M7 to J11 (M9 Junction) - would probably be done in sections though.

spacetweek · 06-01-2012 7:17pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

bode well for widening projects like the M4 to J7 (Maynooth)

Are they planning on doing this? First I heard of it, though it would be great of course!

Sponge Bob · 06-01-2012 8:18pm

M7 a lot worse than M4 though. The bottom of the M50/Top of M11 is also under consideration from c.Sandyford to c.Shankill AFAIK.

L1011 · 06-01-2012 9:00pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

M7 a lot worse than M4 though. The bottom of the M50/Top of M11 is also under consideration from c.Sandyford to c.Shankill AFAIK.

Wicklow CC are also considering Kilmac to Bray North.

Irish and Proud · 07-01-2012 1:11am

spacetweek wrote: »

Are they planning on doing this? First I heard of it, though it would be great of course!

I don't think there was anything concrete, but there was talk (on this forum) of the M4 being widened to perhaps Maynooth - this idea may have been bandied around in political circles too. AFAIK, the M7 widening to J11 was official. However, I shouldn't have used the word 'projects' to describe the schemes in question, so apologies if I falsely got anyone's hopes up.

Scipio76 · 09-01-2012 12:41am

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Yesterday's notice on etenders would seem to confirm the above! The contract was awarded on 6th December 2011 - would expect to see activity on the M1 very soon. I wonder if the R132 bus corridor (along the Lissenhall DC) is to be included in the works - I initially thought that it would, but neither the contract notice nor the award notice makes any reference to the bus corridor.

Roll on the M1 works though!

From what I hear SIAC will be on the ground very shortly. In the process of mobilising to site at present.

Irish and Proud · 09-01-2012 9:42pm

Scipio76 wrote: »

From what I hear SIAC will be on the ground very shortly. In the process of mobilising to site at present.

Some more details here! (2nd item on list)

Article Dated: 20th December 2011

Start Date: 4th January 2012

Completion: December 2012

Regards!

celticbest · 10-01-2012 12:36pm

Can anyone confirm if this is going to be the new layout for Junction 4 once the upgrade is completed?

ardmacha · 10-01-2012 12:42pm

Is the movement for R132 southbound/Donabate towards the M1 north ramp a bit strange there?

celticbest · 10-01-2012 1:22pm

ardmacha wrote: »

Is the movement for R132 southbound/Donabate towards the M1 north ramp a bit strange there?

It's not dissimilar to the Naas Road to Longmile road junction which works well.

spacetweek · 10-01-2012 8:51pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Start Date: 4th January 2012
Completion: December 2012

Can anyone who uses this road confirm that work has started on the ground?

Scipio76 · 10-01-2012 8:58pm

spacetweek wrote: »

Can anyone who uses this road confirm that work has started on the ground?

The contract has started but actual construction works haven't started quite yet.

Jayuu · 11-01-2012 12:37am

I doubt they'll actually do anything to Junction 4 itself.

Most likely they will build the third lane as far as the junction and then have a left lane drop on the outbound section and a left lane add on the inbound section. At the very least it will remove the dangerous right lane merge on the outbound section at Junction 3

ongarboy · 11-01-2012 1:31pm

Jayuu wrote: »

I doubt they'll actually do anything to Junction 4 itself.

Most likely they will build the third lane as far as the junction and then have a left lane drop on the outbound section and a left lane add on the inbound section. At the very least it will remove the dangerous right lane merge on the outbound section at Junction 3

Out of interest, has this existing dangerous right lane merge proven to be dangerous in practice now that it has been there a few months? (when I initially saw it, I did think it was a recipe for accidents but now that I've driven it frequently, there is a long lead time for merging and with plenty of advance signage combined with regular driver familiarity, are such concerns still warranted? Has there been reports of collisions/near misses etc?

ongarboy · 11-01-2012 1:40pm

Also, does this new 3rd lane extension from J3 to J4 include the bridge over the Estuary (ie is J4 the turn off for Skerries/Donabate?)

celticbest · 11-01-2012 1:42pm

ongarboy wrote: »

Out of interest, has this existing dangerous right lane merge proven to be dangerous in practice now that it has been there a few months? (when I initially saw it, I did think it was a recipe for accidents but now that I've driven it frequently, there is a long lead time for merging and with plenty of advance signage combined with regular driver familiarity, are such concerns still warranted? Has there been reports of collisions/near misses etc?

ongarboy wrote: »

Also, does this new 3rd lane extension from J3 to J4 include the bridge over the Estuary (ie is J4 the turn off for Skerries/Donabate?)

Yes & Yes.

Irish and Proud · 11-01-2012 2:02pm

celticbest wrote: »

Can anyone confirm if this is going to be the new layout for Junction 4 once the upgrade is completed?

The above diagram broadly represents the current proposal. The link below will take you to a refined version of the above...

M1 Swords Improvement Scheme and Lissenhall Junction Upgrade (PDF - Unknown Size)

The proposed layout for the Lissenhall Interchange can be seen on page 3.

Regards!

Dingatron · 11-01-2012 8:10pm

Another 3 cars on the central reservation northbound tonight at 1715. Seen plenty of races to the end of third lane so no surprises with the driving behaviour of some.

Looks to be some work about to take place from the airport to M1 junction 2 there were traffic cones the whole way along to the north exit. Maybe just standard maintenance though.

Kumsheen · 12-01-2012 4:42pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

The above diagram broadly represents the current proposal. The link below will take you to a refined version of the above...

M1 Swords Improvement Scheme and Lissenhall Junction Upgrade (PDF - Unknown Size)

The proposed layout for the Lissenhall Interchange can be seen on page 3.

Regards!

Looks like the new design will revert to the more logical inside lane dropping off rather than the current set up.

The Lissenhall interchange looks a bit confusing though.
I can't make out how you come out from Donabate and want to then go Northbound on the R132.

I see a QBC refered to as well on the R132 so i assume they will do that job at the same time.

celticbest · 12-01-2012 5:08pm

Kumsheen wrote: »

Looks like the new design will revert to the more logical inside lane dropping off rather than the current set up.

The Lissenhall interchange looks a bit confusing though.
I can't make out how you come out from Donabate and want to then go Northbound on the R108.

I see a QBC refered to as well on the R108 so i assume they will do that job at the same time.

Do you mean from the Hearse Road onto the R132 NB ?

Is the R108 not the Ballymun road to the Naul?

If it's the Hearse Road to R132 NB you would follow the blue line on below picture.

Kumsheen · 12-01-2012 6:07pm

celticbest wrote: »

Do you mean from the Hearse Road onto the R132 NB ?

Is the R108 not the Ballymun road to the Naul?

If it's the Hearse Road to R132 NB you would follow the blue line on below picture.

Doh!... I had 108 on the brain even though i was looking at the map. I'll correct the post.

ardmacha · 12-01-2012 6:33pm

If it's the Hearse Road to R132 NB you would follow the blue line on below picture.

Almost. You would have to bear left at the left hand junction and then cross, as there is no direct right turn here.
I imagine local traffic would use Turvey Ave instead, but this is rther hard to signpost for those not in the know.

Carawaystick · 12-01-2012 9:56pm

ardmacha wrote: »

Almost. You would have to bear left at the left hand junction and then cross, as there is no direct right turn here.
I imagine local traffic would use Turvey Ave instead, but this is rther hard to signpost for those not in the know.

Considering there's a sign up in Donabate now stating there's no access north from Turvey ave( when there is) maybe thisll be changed too. The lack of a free flow from Swords to the M1N is strange

There's earth moving work going on outside the fence as you exit the M1N

Irish and Proud · 12-01-2012 10:18pm

Carawaystick wrote: »

<snip>
There's earth moving work going on outside the fence as you exit the M1N

Might be for the site offices - great to see this work underway. Hopefully, the D3 will extend to J7 (Gormanston) by 2020 - a time by which the Balbriggan Bypass section (J5 to J7) will be well overdue resurfacing work.

Regards!

The Westerner · 13-01-2012 12:43am

What'll be the speed limit on this stretch when completed I wonder? 100 or 120 km/h?

celticbest · 13-01-2012 9:40am

ardmacha wrote: »

Almost. You would have to bear left at the left hand junction and then cross, as there is no direct right turn here.

Not sure what you mean?

Bluetonic · 13-01-2012 2:41pm

celticbest wrote: »

Not sure what you mean?

You'll have to follow the flow of the existing roundabout as the three new centre lanes will have no U-Turn on them.

Irish and Proud · 13-01-2012 9:07pm

The Westerner wrote: »

What'll be the speed limit on this stretch when completed I wonder? 100 or 120 km/h?

100kph I'd say - all lane widths will be 3.5m which would be very tight for 120kph. It's one thing having 2 lanes of 3.5m lanes each way @ 120kph when motorists can drive slightly closer to whichever edge to allow more room - there's no doing that in the centre lane of a 3 lane carriageway. The centre lanes on the M50 can feel quite confined in heavy traffic (particularly with trucks) - even @ 100kph.

Regards!

ardmacha · 13-01-2012 9:19pm

all lane widths will be 3.5m which would be very tight for 120kph. I

Does it explicitly say that the lane width will be 3.5m?
I ask because the Broadmeadow bridge was designed for 3x3.75m lanes and this is the main point of constriction.

tharlear · 13-01-2012 9:59pm

what do the yellow line across the junction indicate?

Apart from the road going (north south in the pictures) is the rest of the junction on one level, is it just an elongated roundabout?

Irish and Proud · 13-01-2012 10:15pm

tharlear wrote: »

what do the yellow line across the junction indicate?

Apart from the road going (north south in the pictures) is the rest of the junction on one level, is it just an elongated roundabout?

The yellow strips represent at-grade (road level) pedestrian/cyclist crossings. Apart from the M1 mainline (North/South road), the junction is at just one level.

Regards!

Irish and Proud · 13-01-2012 10:22pm

ardmacha wrote: »

Does it explicitly say that the lane width will be 3.5m?
I ask because the Broadmeadow bridge was designed for 3x3.75m lanes and this is the main point of constriction.

Yes, according to this PDF (2.6MB) on the Fingal CC website, the lane widths will be 3.5m - see the Cross Section on Page 3.

Regards!

tharlear · 13-01-2012 10:31pm

Originally Posted by tharlear
what do the yellow line across the junction indicate?

Apart from the road going (north south in the pictures) is the rest of the junction on one level, is it just an elongated roundabout?

The yellow strips represent at-grade (road level) pedestrian/cyclist crossings. Apart from the M1 mainline (North/South road), the junction is at just one level.

Regards!

Traffic mixing with ped/cyclist at a "rural" junction like this, looks dangerous to me.

Is it rural enough area that ped/cyclist is extremely low?

sk8board · 15-01-2012 10:27pm

ongarboy wrote: »

Out of interest, has this existing dangerous right lane merge proven to be dangerous in practice now that it has been there a few months? (when I initially saw it, I did think it was a recipe for accidents but now that I've driven it frequently, there is a long lead time for merging and with plenty of advance signage combined with regular driver familiarity, are such concerns still warranted? Has there been reports of collisions/near misses etc?

it is absolutely rediculous. Its getting worse.

I don't think its exceptional to say that there are 1-2 collisions per week these days; sometimes more.

2 this week, 1 the previous week, 3 in a row the last week before christmas

fridays collision was in the middle lane, back from the merge a bit - 2 cars in bits, especially the one behind - bonnot was in a big V.
Last week there appeared to be 5 cars damaged one of the days.

I'm actually getting sick to the teeth of it! the old way was actually better and less stress.

I think the problem is AFTER the merge. for some reason the traffic takes hundreds of yards to get going even though the volume isn't near capacity, and the inside lane is the faster one, which makes it even more dangerous as you have lads diving down both the outside AND inside lanes.
I think the problem is that slower/careful drivers stay out of the inside lane for the Swords exit, and then end up inadvertently in the overtaking lane after the merge with lads jumping all over them, inside and behind.

(did I mention I was sick of it??!)

spacetweek · 16-01-2012 11:11am

Irish and Proud wrote: »

100kph I'd say - all lane widths will be 3.5m which would be very tight for 120kph.
Regards!

I'd be surprised if they lowered the limit. The main reason the limit on the M50 is 100 is not due to narrow lanes, it's because of close junction spacing. The distance between Drinan and Lissenhall is 4k.

Kumsheen · 16-01-2012 1:28pm

I don't think a 100kph limit is a big deal to be honest, it's not for very long until you pass the Lissenhall exit.

ardmacha · 16-01-2012 4:00pm

I don't think a 100kph limit is a big deal to be honest, it's not for very long until you pass the Lissenhall exit.

It sets a pattern of road improvement to achieve speed reduction. If it eventually made D3M to Ballbriggan, Julianstown or Newry will it then all be reduced to 100Kph?

Traffic moves along at 120KPH for 21 hours of the day here at present, without this "improvement".

celticbest · 17-01-2012 9:21am

sk8board wrote: »

it is absolutely rediculous. Its getting worse.

I don't think its exceptional to say that there are 1-2 collisions per week these days; sometimes more.

2 this week, 1 the previous week, 3 in a row the last week before christmas

fridays collision was in the middle lane, back from the merge a bit - 2 cars in bits, especially the one behind - bonnot was in a big V.
Last week there appeared to be 5 cars damaged one of the days.

I'm actually getting sick to the teeth of it! the old way was actually better and less stress.

I think the problem is AFTER the merge. for some reason the traffic takes hundreds of yards to get going even though the volume isn't near capacity, and the inside lane is the faster one, which makes it even more dangerous as you have lads diving down both the outside AND inside lanes.
I think the problem is that slower/careful drivers stay out of the inside lane for the Swords exit, and then end up inadvertently in the overtaking lane after the merge with lads jumping all over them, inside and behind.

(did I mention I was sick of it??!)

First crash of this week on the first night of the week, two cars @ about 5:25 last night again just at the merge.

cargo · 17-01-2012 10:25am

celticbest wrote: »

First crash of this week on the first night of the week, two cars @ about 5:25 last night again just at the merge.

Middle lane rear-ender.... just looked like a very minor tip. Had been a breakdown and log-jam there a bit earlier according to AA Roadwatch.

Cant start quick enough

celticbest · 17-01-2012 12:07pm

cargo wrote: »

Cant start quick enough

+1, roll it on......

Scipio76 · 17-01-2012 1:11pm

There were some yellow and black portacabins being delivered into a field right beside the northbound J4 off ramp this morning. Looks like it's kicking off.

Carawaystick · 18-01-2012 9:26pm

Scipio76 wrote: »

There were some yellow and black portacabins being delivered into a field right beside the northbound J4 off ramp this morning. Looks like it's kicking off.

yeah, they've siac written on em.

cargo · 18-01-2012 10:07pm

cargo wrote: »

celticbest wrote: »

First crash of this week on the first night of the week, two cars @ about 5:25 last night again just at the merge.

Middle lane rear-ender.... just looked like a very minor tip. Had been a breakdown and log-jam there a bit earlier according to AA Roadwatch.

Cant start quick enough

Another crash this evening.

sk8board · 18-01-2012 10:42pm

cargo wrote: »

Another crash this evening.

looked like the rear of the 2 cars was written off - it gave a Focus a real stunt up the bum.

I'll bet theres no-where else like it in Ireland at the moment - a 400 yard stretch of road thats claiming about 10 vehicles per week. If it wasn't so seriously it'd be comical!

M1 New Section of D3 (three lanes) at Swords

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