M7 Motorway (general thread)

Wild Bill · 03-04-2012 11:31pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Theres no need for a 3rd lane for the whole way as plenty enough dont know how to use a motorway and the innermost lane would just remain empty until the split for Waterford, with cars doing 80kmh using the middle lane as the driving lane - rendering the 3 lane highway useless.
(unless you want to zoom along the empty driving lane at 120kmh "undertaking" all the slow moving trafic in the middle and outer overtaking lane!)

Complete and utter rubbish. :rolleyes:

munchkin_utd · 04-04-2012 2:47pm

Wild Bill wrote: »

Complete and utter rubbish. :rolleyes:

here is a google streetview of the 3 lane upgraded stretch of road the Dublin side of Naas.
http://maps.google.de/maps?q=kildare&hl=de&ll=53.245752,-6.601582&spn=0.019568,0.111494&hnear=Kildare,+County+Kildare,+Irland&t=h&z=14&layer=c&cbll=53.245776,-6.601581&panoid=ONYAnFhCemz7CnS7DR6Q5w&cbp=11,224.2,,0,8.8

Note EXACTLY that what I have said above is clearly visible here (EDIT: and look behind the google camera and its 500m+ of empty driving lane).
All the traffic is in the middle overtaking lane and outside overtaking lane and virtually nobody in the driving lane.
The proposed road is an direct extension of this road!

So as I said, you dont really need the 3 lanes the full 12km as the extra lane is going to waste with bad driving anyhow.

Wild Bill · 04-04-2012 8:31pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

So as I said, you dont really need the 3 lanes the full 12km as the extra lane is going to waste with bad driving anyhow.

Repeating my comment would probably be bad form. :cool:

veryangryman · 04-04-2012 9:09pm

Wild Bill wrote: »

munchkin_utd wrote: »

So as I said, you dont really need the 3 lanes the full 12km as the extra lane is going to waste with bad driving anyhow.

Repeating my comment would probably be bad form. :cool:

In fairness the stretches of three lane road are very short in this country. If you had really long stretches and on more of the motorway people would get used to behaving right on it. Find a country with as few 3 lane roads and as new a network.

JupiterKid · 04-04-2012 9:29pm

The UK has had D3M motorways with three lanes on either side for over 50 years now and still many drivers there don't use them properly.

The M7 is genuinely congested - even in these recessionary times - from the M9 junction to the Maudlins interchange. It needs to be widened sooner rather than later.

I don't think the M7 beyond the M9 junction needs widening but it may do so at some stage in the future.

veryangryman · 04-04-2012 10:27pm

JupiterKid wrote: »

The UK has had D3M motorways with three lanes on either side for over 50 years now and still many drivers there don't use them properly.

The M7 is genuinely congested - even in these recessionary times - from the M9 junction to the Maudlins interchange. It needs to be widened sooner rather than later.

I don't think the M7 beyond the M9 junction needs widening bit it may do so at some stage in the future.

Also most British motorways are so heavy trafficked that it is more noticeable when someone starts taking the piss on lane hogging. The added enforcement from the police keeps things moving too.

road_high · 04-04-2012 11:53pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Theres no need for a 3rd lane for the whole way as plenty enough dont know how to use a motorway and the innermost lane would just remain empty until the split for Waterford, with cars doing 80kmh using the middle lane as the driving lane - rendering the 3 lane highway useless.
(unless you want to zoom along the empty driving lane at 120kmh "undertaking" all the slow moving trafic in the middle and outer overtaking lane!)

Say that while using it everyday at 7.30 am and 5.00pm!! It's ridiculously congested and clearly not flowing freely as a motoway should. Definitely a capacity issue here.
Though I do take your point re lane hogging and general atrocious lack of awareness as to lane discipline.

ardmacha · 05-04-2012 10:11am

This is not rocket science. Widen it to 3 lanes and setup a few cameras and ticket anyone acting the bollocks. Make sure that this is widely publicised, that way the new section will start off orderly from the beginning. Even if it doesn't the fines will provide useful revenue.

Amtmann · 06-04-2012 1:27pm

I think the M7 widening merits its own thread tbh

ullickmagee · 31-05-2012 12:39pm

Does anyone have info regarding the closure of the M7 between Birdhill and Annacotty last night and tonight.. anything to do with the bog of doom..

Seasoft · 31-05-2012 9:31pm

ullickmagee wrote: »

Does anyone have info regarding the closure of the M7 between Birdhill and Annacotty last night and tonight.. anything to do with the bog of doom..

from AA Road:

!AA Traffic Update
The M7 Dublin/Limerick Rd will close north and southbound for overnight works until Thurs 31st May
It will close between J27 Birdhill (Tipperary) and J28 Castletroy (Newport Rd Interchange) from 9pm to 6am the following day. Southbound traffic will divert at J27 through Birdhill to Newport R/A rejoining the M7 at J28. Northbound traffic diversions will be vice versa. Diversions will be signposted."

ullickmagee · 05-06-2012 6:07pm

Heard today that the closure was to allow inspection of the Sinking Bog of Doom section and that there are going to be remedial works at some point in the near future that will close that section of Motorway for 28 days... not sure about the quality of the information but it sounds plausible...

popebenny16 · 10-07-2012 4:17pm

ullickmagee wrote: »

Heard today that the closure was to allow inspection of the Sinking Bog of Doom section and that there are going to be remedial works at some point in the near future that will close that section of Motorway for 28 days... not sure about the quality of the information but it sounds plausible...

i drove over it and back on saturday night, heading to limerick there are now noticable bumps at regular intervals, combined with a undulation. very very similar to a resurfaced bog road that is near me. the bumps reminded me of the concrete roads that used to be in dublin, from clontarf to kilbarrack for example, and the bumps you would get when you go from one slab to the next, only these were much further apart.

i was last on the road in March/April, and I do not remember this being there.

Sponge Bob · 11-07-2012 1:04pm

The Bog of Doom section would be up for a retention payment this year is my guess. The NRA got €600m for capital payments this year...and as they are building shag all new roads evidently most of this is retention payments...almots like snagging payments.

Whether any reasonable amount of money will ever fix the Bog of Doom is another matter. I should think it could easily swallow the guts of €100m all on its own and that it will take much longer than 28 days to remediate.

The Bog Of Doom is actually 2 bogs. 1 smaller bog east of Lisnagry named Drominboy bog and the biggie is east of Castleconnell in Annaholty which was the one that caused the most problems and which section was already partially rebuilt at its southern end prior to opening after it crumbled while under construction.

Is the surface issue affecting the road on one or on both of the bogs???

popebenny16 · 17-07-2012 4:27pm

its a long enough experiance so my guess is its the eastern one, approaching limerick, on the dubilin bound side it seems ok

pigtown · 26-07-2012 11:06pm

Junction 29 (Ballysimon) upgrade complete. Could do with some better signage but all in all I think it will relieve some of the pressure on that junction. It does show up the need for dualling some of the N24 though.

L1011 · 21-01-2013 5:14pm

M9N->M7E merge to be widened to two lanes starting this week:

http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/PressReleasesAdverts/PressStatement-M7M9InterchangeRemedialWorks.html

Chris_5339762 · 22-01-2013 11:45am

Good. That is a ridiculous setup as it stands but I guess it was built like that years ago so we can't complain too much.

Any word at all on the M7 widening from the end of the Naas bypass to the M7/9 junction?

road_high · 22-01-2013 11:59pm

MYOB wrote: »

M9N->M7E merge to be widened to two lanes starting this week:

http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/PressReleasesAdverts/PressStatement-M7M9InterchangeRemedialWorks.html

Great. Is it only the northbound carriageway they are widening? The southband one is not great at peak times either (mainly though due to numpties slowing to 80-100kmh when merging off to the M9. Drives me mad).

L1011 · 23-01-2013 12:07am

Only the north / east bound one as far as I know.

One reason why people slow down to head off to the M9 is that the driving lane on the merge is a bit rough and looks even worse. Resurfacing that might help.

lottpaul · 16-04-2013 4:16pm

While driving north to Dublin today I noticed new (to me) signs every 500m counting down the distance to -- Dublin I presume. Signs are small and blue and simply say e.g. M7 E 67.5, then M7 E 67 etc etc. Are these very new? Will they be extended to all motorways -- and why are they there?
Thanks in advance and apologies if this has been thrashed to death somewhere else.

Goofy · 16-04-2013 8:34pm

lottpaul wrote: »

While driving north to Dublin today I noticed new (to me) signs every 500m counting down the distance to -- Dublin I presume. Signs are small and blue and simply say e.g. M7 E 67.5, then M7 E 67 etc etc. Are these very new? Will they be extended to all motorways -- and why are they there?
Thanks in advance and apologies if this has been thrashed to death somewhere else.

They are for emergenct services to easily locate an accident, stray llama or what ever. Easier to say "M7 eastbound at marker 67" than "somewhere along the dublin road near nenagh"

Aquarius34 · 16-04-2013 11:48pm

The Naas globe ball interchange is very right for 3 lane spec there. Is there a chance they could modify the bridge and move the pillars on each side further out and and build a pillar in the middle to support a new deck?. I imagine It will involve building a temp bridge while replacing the current bridge. Or they could just allow Naas bound traffic to divert to the Johnstown interchange for a few months while they modify the bridge. It's only NB that would be diverted so it shouldn't be to much of a disruption to local or commuter traffic. Could it be done?

The Naas bypass will need all of it's bridges been removed. The Oberstown interchange will replace one of them. What is left is the Sallins and R local road on the eastern side of the bypass. All new cross sections bridges should be built to Four lane spec on each side. M50 style width bridges. The Naas DC currently has those bridge width measurements since the upgrade. The old bridges fit 3 lanes one side while the other side needs to use it's embankments. The bridges do not fit 3 lanes on each side.

Also the Sallins Johnstown road should be upgraded and All Sallins traffic should be diverted to the Johnstown interchange instead. This will ease the Naas globe ball exit and leave that interchange for Naas bound traffic only. The Monread road is to congested at peak times to handle the extra commuter traffic going via Sallins.

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 12:02am

When Newlands is upgraded, the M7/M9 junction is going to be a car pile up most days from then on.

L1011 · 17-04-2013 8:57am

Hello mysterious...

richiek83 · 17-04-2013 9:55am

M7 Widening discussed at Naas TC meeting last night.

http://www.kfmradio.com/kfm-radio/local-news/naas-tc-to-discuss-m7-up-grade-accord.html

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 1:03pm

The Mauldins bridge will be replaced according to the diagrams on the Kildare county council website. But the redesign of the Mauldins interchange is absolutely horrific. I can't even believe how anyone in their right mind could design a mess like that. For Naas bound traffic to leave the N7 it has to negotiate through four roundabouts in the space of 100 metres. They can't be serious with this design. With plenty of land available why on Earth would you need to negotiate through four roundabouts for one movement to leave an interchange. :eek:

http://kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/NationalRoadsDesignOffice/M7OsberstownInterchangeMotorwayScheme2008/LinkToDocument,16675,en.pdf

The only other bridges left to replace is the Sallins and the Local R road from the western end of the bypass. The Newbridge exit will also be replaced according to the diagrams. The redesign plans for that interchange is also awful. The actual current layouts are actually better than the redesign.

L1011 · 17-04-2013 1:38pm

Aquarius34 wrote: »

The Mauldins bridge will be replaced according to the diagrams on the Kildare county council website.

No, the diagram clearly states that the existing bridge is being retained.

The overbridge structures are all wide enough for a D3 to go through. There is no requirement for continuous shoulders on motorways. Just like your previous hobby horse in Nenagh, where no overbridges were replaced.

Much Naas-bound traffic will be using the Osberstown interchange instead, I suspect they want to reduce/remove as much inbound traffic from the Dublin Road as possible. They can also come off at Johnstown and use the frontage road.

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 1:53pm

http://kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/NationalRoadsDesignOffice/M7OsberstownInterchangeMotorwayScheme2008/LinkToDocument,16677,en.pdf

Here is the same redesign but another copy with it stating the bridge to be replaced as part of the M7 widening scheme.. The top decking has to be replaced. The bridge at the Newbridge interchange is also going to be replaced. The farm access bridge is also been replaced at Obsertown. The bridges are in actual fact Ireland's oldest motorway bridges. The total median with is 12 metres but that includes the hardstrips (2.0m total) and the bridge deck clearance in the middle which adds up another 3metres of the median. It is going to be very tight. I don't see the point in retaining the old bridges anyway if most of them are going anyway.

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 1:58pm

MYOB wrote: »

No, the diagram clearly states that the existing bridge is being retained.

The overbridge structures are all wide enough for a D3 to go through. There is no requirement for continuous shoulders on motorways. Just like your previous hobby horse in Nenagh, where no overbridges were replaced.

Much Naas-bound traffic will be using the Osberstown interchange instead, I suspect they want to reduce/remove as much inbound traffic from the Dublin Road as possible. They can also come off at Johnstown and use the frontage road.

The HS are retained on the Nenagh bypass. They are just slightly narrower. The HS is 2.5metres. A running lane is 3.5metres or 3.65metres. It doesn't look like they are going to retain any of the bridges on the Naas bypass.

L1011 · 17-04-2013 2:04pm

Those are two options from the same report. They're not going to pick one that does unneeded work

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 2:05pm

MYOB wrote: »

Those are two options from the same report. They're not going to pick one that does unneeded work

According to whom?

L1011 · 17-04-2013 2:11pm

Aquarius34 wrote: »

According to whom?

The same consultants and common sense. The bridges are all wide enough.

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 2:14pm

MYOB wrote: »

The same consultants and common sense. The bridges are all wide enough.

What consultants? lol.

L1011 · 17-04-2013 2:17pm

Aquarius34 wrote: »

What consultants? lol.

The ones who produced the single diagram you're clinging to as proof.

You insisted nenagh would need new overbridges. It didn't. This won't either

Aquarius34 · 17-04-2013 2:18pm

MYOB wrote: »

The same consultants and common sense. The bridges are all wide enough.

Newbridge overbridge is going to be replaced.
The Oberstown farm access bridge is going to be removed.
The Mauldins interchange will more than likely go as well.

The only two left standing bridges that have not been confirmed is the Caragh road and Sallins over-bridges. If they still stand and can fit, that is fine. But not all the bridges are going to be retained.

L1011 · 17-04-2013 2:20pm

And not one of those is due to width

nordydan · 22-04-2013 2:54pm

lottpaul wrote: »

While driving north to Dublin today I noticed new (to me) signs every 500m counting down the distance to -- Dublin I presume. Signs are small and blue and simply say e.g. M7 E 67.5, then M7 E 67 etc etc. Are these very new? Will they be extended to all motorways -- and why are they there?
Thanks in advance and apologies if this has been thrashed to death somewhere else.

Saw this at the weekend. What I noticed is that they stop at Portlaoise at the old M8/N77 junction at Midway. They also cover the N7 section near Dublin but do not extend the whole way to the Red Cow.

Good idea, they are cheap enough to produce and would have tied in well with a km based junction numbering system. Haven't seen them on any other motorways but then again I haven't been on them recently

JeffK88 · 13-05-2013 2:19pm

Full page in the local paper 'Kildare Times' today about the M7 Naas to Newbridge By-pass Upgrade Scheme & M7 Osberstown Interchange & R407 Sallins bypass Scheme both public consultations. So good news for these two projects which look to be part of the same scheme.

richiek83 · 13-05-2013 2:29pm

Good stuff JeffK88. I now think this scheme will proceed to construction before the Kerry Group premises open in circa 2016. It is badly needed as average speeds at peak time to the M9 split are somewhere in the region of 30-40mph. As the economy improves, this is likely to go lower hence. This seems to be a project that is being advanced quietly under the radar.

JeffK88 · 13-05-2013 2:37pm

Really has been on under the radar development cannot find a link to find the public consultation in the Kildare roads design office still has the one from November 2008. Hopefully construction will commence by end of year to get it ready for Kerry Group opening.

veryangryman · 13-05-2013 2:54pm

JeffK88 wrote: »

Full page in the local paper 'Kildare Times' today about the M7 Naas to Newbridge By-pass Upgrade Scheme & M7 Osberstown Interchange & R407 Sallins bypass Scheme both public consultations. So good news for these two projects which look to be part of the same scheme.

Better something than nothing but jesus Sallins aint a bottleneck. Clane on the other hand....why not do that as part of it. Its existing ring road is a joke

Chris_5339762 · 13-05-2013 3:05pm

If the Osberstown interchange gets built a whole load of traffic will get dumped onto the Sallins road and may well back up onto the M7... probably the best chance for a bypass is along with this scheme.

JeffK88 · 13-05-2013 3:11pm

Ain't no bottleneck but its tied into the M7 Scheme so might as well build the bypass of Sallins as part of the Osberstown interchange. Im sure there is plans for a clane bypass in the pipeline.

L1011 · 13-05-2013 5:03pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Better something than nothing but jesus Sallins aint a bottleneck. Clane on the other hand....why not do that as part of it. Its existing ring road is a joke

Sallins has far, far, far worse delays than Clane.

jerryqu · 14-05-2013 12:13am

Slimline “Christmas Tree” growing beside the M7.
While travelling west bound on the M7 last Saturday evening about 3km before Junction 26 my eye was drawn to what I’d seen subconsciously before on the commute west, but never really properly noticed -a slimmed down version of a giant 10 meter high Christmas Tree!
The setting sun was reflecting off its galvanized interior and the scales fell from my eyes – not a Christmas Tree, but a telecoms mast in disguise!
Has anyone spotted this before? ( street view looking west on M7, 500 meters before the R497 overbridge Nenagh to Tipperary road)
I hope they similarly dress up the conspicuously naked mast I passed earlier on the drive down although it must be a right pain and a challenge for the telecom riggers to work at height with all the branches fouling everything up.
Apologies if this has been covered before.

hi5 · 14-05-2013 9:59am

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=google+maps+dublin&hl=en&ll=52.845524,-8.201385&spn=0.001688,0.005284&hnear=Dublin,+County+Dublin&gl=ie&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=52.845477,-8.201913&panoid=YiZktrWiu3MbybwFyEh3YA&cbp=12,192.3,,0,-22.59

The mobile phone operators used to hide their masts in trees in the early days when they were trying to get 100% coverage and faced with the opposition of planning for masts in rural areas.

Chris_5339762 · 14-05-2013 10:53am

Heres some more by Marlay Park in Dublin.

http://goo.gl/maps/a47R8

Great idea.

L1011 · 17-05-2013 7:55pm

Aquarius34 wrote: »

The Mauldins bridge will be replaced according to the diagrams on the Kildare county council website..

http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/NationalRoadsDesignOffice/M7NaastoNewbridgeBy-PassUpgradeScheme2013/EmergingPreferredRoute/PublicConsultation/M7%20Naas%20to%20Newbridge%20By-Pass%20Upgrade%20Scheme%20DRAWING.pdf

No plans to alter the Maudlins junction. How mysterious.

csd · 15-06-2013 10:12pm

Two observations from a trip down the M7 and M8 today.

1. There are very noticeable km posts every 500 metres from the start of the M7 at Naas (Maudlins) all the way to the southern end of the Portlaoise bypass. The zero datum appears to be the start of the N7 at M50 J9. I presume these are for driver location purposes in the event of breakdowns/accidents. Have any other motorways received this treatment?

However, further south, there are marker posts every 100 m on the PPP sections of the M7/M8, but their zero datums appear to be Cork and Limerick rather than Dublin.

2. It looks like some sort of wrong-way driver warning system is being installed on the Portlaoise bypass. There are matrix displays attached to the cantilever gantries facing the opposite way to the direction of travel. I presume there's some sort of detector on the slip road that can determine if a vehicle is coming down the wrong way and activate these electronic signs. Does anyone know anything more about this?

Thanks,

/csd

M7 Motorway (general thread)

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