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First Dual Carriageways in Ireland

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Comments

  • #52
    murphaph
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,031 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    icdg wrote:
    But anyways...I'm wondering what road signage was like on these early dual carrigeways. Surely the pre-1970s road signs would have been woefully inadequate for a dual carrigeway?
    2000's signage is woefully inadequate for our current motorways and dual carriageways :D

    In fact, our yellow diamond signs date back to the 50's but it wasn't until 1979 I believe that the 'Dual Carriageway Ahead' sign was legislated for though it was (as is usual) probably used on the ground long before entering the statute book!

    normal_P1010179.JPG

    We copied a lot of UK stuff back then. Our sign to warn of an impending dual carriageway (not a junction with one as above) was identical to theirs and can be seen below. In fact, you can still see one of these pretty battered signs at the start of the R445 (former N7) DC in Newbridge, just outside Wyeth, obviously on the northbound carriageway!

    22077-tn.jpg


  • #53
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,011 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    murphaph wrote:
    Any info on the N13 out of Letterkenny?
    Don't know anything detailed about it other than that it was constructed in the mid 1980s and opened around 1987/1988 I think. I don't know how much of the old road still exists. The old right turn for Lifford/Dublin used to be on a bend with a stone wall to the left if memory serves me correctly.

    The dual carriageway section begins at the dry arch roundabout outside Letterkenny and ends at the next roundabout at the turn-off for Derry. The next section (N14) to Lifford is long due for upgrading.


  • #54
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,887 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    The N13 dual carriageway east of Letterkenny was opened to traffic in 1990. It replaced a hideously poor standard road.

    When was the Naas to Newbridge dual carriageway opened?


  • #55
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    JupiterKid wrote:
    The N13 dual carriageway east of Letterkenny was opened to traffic in 1990. It replaced a hideously poor standard road.
    I was sure that it was later than this. I'll dig out my old Michelin maps. It is of course the Manorcunningham Bypass also.
    When was the Naas to Newbridge dual carriageway opened?
    After the Naas Road and before the Naas Bypass.

    Some info here: http://www.nra.ie/News/DownloadableDocumentation/file,1204,en.PDF

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N7_road


  • #56
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Oh, I think the Oranmore Bypass was about 1984, with the Galway Eastern Approach Road following in stages.


  • #57
    invincibleirish
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,219 ✭✭✭invincibleirish


    how old is the mini DC in wilton in Cork city,its been there for as long as i remember and im old (well 22...)


  • #58
    MLM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 220 ✭✭MLM


    invincibleirish wrote:
    how old is the mini DC in wilton in Cork city,its been there for as long as i remember and im old (well 22...)
    I think it was built when the hospital opened, which would have been around 1978


  • #59
    Happy Bertie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41 ✭Happy Bertie


    Could anyone post a scan of their old Michelin maps. I think I still have the 1989, and the more recent 1999, 2000 Michelin Ireland maps. Even though the Michelin maps were not always completely accurate, they do give an indication of road improvements as they illustrate the widths of the road at a number of levels. I'm hopefully going to scan in my 1989 and 2000 maps and post links to them, sometime "soon".

    PS. Isn't it amazing that a typical modern day road scheme has more kms than the entire total kms of dual carriageways Ireland had over 20 years ago.


  • #60
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,011 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    Wishbone Ash wrote:
    it was constructed in the mid 1980s and opened around 1987/1988 I think
    JupiterKid wrote:
    The N13 dual carriageway east of Letterkenny was opened to traffic in 1990.
    Victor wrote:
    I was sure that it was later than this. I'll dig out my old Michelin maps. It is of course the Manorcunningham Bypass also
    JupiterKid - I stand corrected (again!) :o I was up that way yesterday and enquired about it. Work commenced in 1985 and it was opened in late 1990 (possibly November).

    Wisbone Ash wrote:
    I don't know how much of the old road still exists
    To answer my own query - bits of the old road can be seen and is still open to traffic particularly near the Dry Arch roundabout end.


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  • #61
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    MLM wrote:
    I think it was built when the hospital opened, which would have been around 1978
    I was thinking 1979 when the shopping centre opened, but thereabouts.


  • #62
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Blackrock Bypass was well underway in 1986, so probably opened in 1987-88.

    Finglas Bypass (the second) and North Road were done around the same time as the Northern Cross Route.


  • #63
    RadioCity
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 340 ✭✭RadioCity


    Re the N13.
    Would I be right in saying the Single Carriageway section was one of the first of its kind, ie wide 2 lane plus hard shoulders? The section from Derry to Manorcunningham is very wide and has quite a variety of driving styles for the want of a better phrase. It is wide enough to be a dual carriageway (was that ever the intention?) and indeed it is possible to overtake without going into the opposite carriageway.

    The section from Newtowncunningham to Manorcunningham is quite honestly in bits now and is in serious need of resurfacing. Mind you, they seem to be working from Bridgend towards Newtowncunningham at the minute.

    Now anyone got a date for when the N56 from Stranorlar to the Dry Arch became the N13? (Must be one of the few bits of National Road that has to give way to a regional road) Sorry for going off topic.


    The Dual section, recently resurfaced I recall gave much relief to many motorists when it opened, and the spud sellers at Manor roundabout. Note the total disregard for the speed limits (100km/h) on the stratch of road.


  • #64
    Bogger77
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,857 ✭✭✭Bogger77


    RadioCity wrote:
    Now anyone got a date for when the N56 from Stranorlar to the Dry Arch became the N13? (Must be one of the few bits of National Road that has to give way to a regional road) Sorry for going off topic.

    It's not that uncommon for N class to yield to a R road. The N80 from Moate to Portlaoise has two occurances, once in Clara, and again in Mountmellick. N5 in Ballaghdreenen. N20 at the N21/20 junction at Patrickswell.


  • #65
    mackerski
    Registered Users Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭mackerski


    Bogger77 wrote:
    It's not that uncommon for N class to yield to a R road. The N80 from Moate to Portlaoise has two occurances, once in Clara, and again in Mountmellick. N5 in Ballaghdreenen. N20 at the N21/20 junction at Patrickswell.

    There used to be a case of this on the N3 also, just north of Cavan. As you approached the environs of Cavan from the north you had to yield to the N54, a secondary route, though probably with greater traffic count (it had been like that dating back to the time the N3 hit a dead end at Aghalane).

    The Cavan Bypass has realigned the problem away and the N3 is now the priority route.


  • #66
    murphaph
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,031 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    N11 yields to R-something-or-other in Ferns.


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  • #67
    AugustusMinimus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,561 ✭✭✭AugustusMinimus


    A quick question and this seems like a good place to ask it.

    There's a dual carriageway between Newbridge and Naas and of course, the Naas dual carriageway between Dublin and Naas. Both of these roads are quite old (60s and 70s).

    However, the Naas bypass was only built in 1983. Before the M7 opened, were both dual carriageways not linked to each other and you would still have had to gone through Naas ? If this is the case, why on earth did they bother building the Newbridge - Naas DC without bypassing Naas ?


  • #68
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    AugustusMinimus wrote: »
    However, the Naas bypass was only built in 1983. Before the M7 opened, were both dual carriageways not linked to each other and you would still have had to gone through Naas ? If this is the case, why on earth did they bother building the Newbridge - Naas DC without bypassing Naas ?
    I imagine a few reasons, primarily short-sightedness:
    * The town wasn't as big as it is now.
    * There was a preference for on-line improvements over bypasses.
    * The "loss of trade to the town" spiel - the town boomed when it was bypassed, as people could get in to it to actually shop.


  • #69
    Chris_5339762
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,963 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    Its also cheap to do an online upgrade between towns as you don't have to demolish too much. The town is too expensive to demolish half of.


  • #70
    foggy_lad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    AugustusMinimus wrote: »
    A quick question and this seems like a good place to ask it.

    There's a dual carriageway between Newbridge and Naas and of course, the Naas dual carriageway between Dublin and Naas. Both of these roads are quite old (60s and 70s).

    However, the Naas bypass was only built in 1983. Before the M7 opened, were both dual carriageways not linked to each other and you would still have had to gone through Naas ? If this is the case, why on earth did they bother building the Newbridge - Naas DC without bypassing Naas ?

    The road between Naas and Newbridge was just single lane national primary route when the Naas road was upgraded to dual carriageway, some time later parts of the Newbridge road were upgraded because of the volumes of traffic going to Newbridge which was a growing town at the time and also to Kildare.

    The route was always into Naas from the carriageway and through the town to the top of the town and turn right at the lights which were a right bottleneck going to or coming from Newbridge because of the hill. There was also a few good "rat runs" through the back streets of Naas to bring you out on the Newbridge road but back then they could also be blocked with their contra-flow traffic or people risked ending up in the branch of the royal grand canal in Naas.


  • #71
    BuffyBot
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,924 ✭✭✭✭BuffyBot


    Zombie thread. AugustusMinimus, there is a dedicated Infrastructure forum now for these questions


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  • #72
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Moved from Commuting & Transport.

    Moderator


  • #73
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Chris_5339762 wrote: »
    Its also cheap to do an online upgrade between towns as you don't have to demolish too much. The town is too expensive to demolish half of.

    The problems there are ribbon housing, junctions and disruption to existing traffic.


  • #74
    Schadenfreudia
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,995 ✭✭✭Schadenfreudia


    The Wiki article on the N11 is pretty detailed, certainly from 1970:
    1970: Kilcroney dual carriageway (with at grade junctions) from Fasseroe to Kilmacanogue, west of Bray. 3 km.
    1972: Kilpedder bypass; dual carriageway (with at grade junctions) but including one road underpass, the first "flyover" in Ireland. 2 km.
    1974: Belfield flyover; a stretch of six-lane dual carriageway with a GSJ at the entrance to UCD, Belfield. 2 km
    1976: Extensions of the Belfield section in both directions with six-lane dc, at grade, with multiple residential access points. 2 km.
    1977: Stillorgan bypass. At grade 4 lane dc with hard shoulder from Foster Ave. to White's Cross, replacing earlier 1950s dc at Galloping Green. 3 km.
    1984: Cabinteely and Cornelscourt bypass. At grade 4 lane dc with hard shoulder. 2 km.
    1986: Old 1950s dc replaced by at grade 4 lane dc with hard shoulder between White's cross and the Cabinteely bypass. 1 km.
    1990: Newtownmountkennedy bypass. Four lane dc with hard shoulders and GSJ. 5 km.
    1991: M11 Bray-Shankill bypass. Motorway from the 1960s Loughlinstown dc to the Kilcroney (1970) dc. 5 km.
    1993: Fasseroe Bridge; grade separated junction created at the end of the M11/start of Kilcroney dc.
    1995: Ram Bridge; grade separated junction created linking the N11 to the southern end of Bray.
    1999: Arklow bypass; fully grade separated dc (re-classified as motorway in 2009). 10 km.
    2003: Glen of the Downs dc joining the dc north of Kilmacanoge to the 1972 Kilpedder bypass. 5 km.
    2004: New dc replaced the 1960s Loughlinstown dual carriageway and included a GSJ with the R118. 3 km.
    2004: Ashford/Rathnew bypass; fully grade separated dc (partially re-classified as motorway in 2009). 14 km.
    2007: Gorey bypass; fully grade separated dc (re-classified as motorway in 2009). 22 km.
    2008: Grade separated junction created on the Kilpedder bypass (1972) to link with the new R774 dc to Greystones.


  • #75
    Sheldons Brain
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,394 ✭✭✭Sheldons Brain


    Over in the rail forum there is a link to the O'Dea archive in the National Library, which has a lot of railway pics around the time steam was ended and the network was closing down.

    There is one nice shot of the Naas Dualler being built http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000307327


  • #76
    L1011
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 69,538 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Interesting how the road markings seem to be in ribbons even though the road isn't open, that Yield in particular. Also that road project signs are a near 50 year old concept at least.


  • #77
    GrumpyMe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,195 ✭✭✭GrumpyMe


    popebenny16 wrote: »
    ...The Longmile Road was a DC in the 40's ( there was a postcard in the Indo recently showing Travelers on it as it was being built)....

    Don't think so - this is from the 60's I'd guess

    9h5d02.jpg


  • #78
    Sam Russell
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,862 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    That car is a Ford Consul Classic which dates from the sixties. 1961-1963.


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