M50 thread

ongarboy wrote: »

Hi, can someone clarify something for me on the N3 junction of the M50, please? If I am travelling M50 northbound and exiting at the N3 junction to get onto the Cavan Road, I notice that the left lane is marked for city centre or Castleknock bound motorists and the right lane for Navan/Cavan bound motorists. As I am Clonee bound, when I noticed this, I'd been on the left lane of the exit and failed to move over to the right lane in time and thought, crap, I'm going to end up in the city but the left lane also allows you to continue on the Navan road without issue (apart from traffic lights)

So my long winded question is, is the right lane a free flowing lane or a more seamless route for Cavan/Navan bound motorists? I can't see any drawback to using the left lane otherwise apart from the traffic lights.

That's exactly it. See the link below for a map of the layout. The only potential issue with using the left lane might be a build-up of traffic at busy times. The signs are listed as such to give the best option to those approaching the junction. Clearly most people would prefer not to have to stop at traffic lights if they don't have to.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=53.3835&lon=-6.36746&zoom=16&layers=M

Folks,

It was cold and mostly clear tonight, so I thought I'd take a few snaps in and around J6. This area has seen perhaps some of the most dramatic changes due to the upgrade works, so I hope these shots are of interest.

First, a key map. The numbers on the map below correspond roughly to where the shots were taken.


Location 1 first. This is a panorama of four shots stitched together looking west and north from the vantage point. The loop visible is the M50 southbound to N3 outbound freeflow slip, with the Royal Canal visible to the extreme left. Vantage point 2 is visible here, directly across the sliproad below, where the bridge ends in the middle of the frame.


Moving to vantage point 2, we're looking northwest at the N3 to M50 South, N3 to City, and M50 northbound to N3 outbound slips passing under original M50 SB offramp to the roundabout. Immediately beyond this overpass, the carriageways cross the M50 mainline.


Turning the camera around to face the opposite way, L to R we see the N3 inbound to City, N3 inbound to M50 southbound, and M50 northbound to N3 outbound carriageways.


Now we move to vantage point 3, the canal aqueduct across the M50 mainline. The first shot looks northeast at the M50 mainline. The high bridge in the foreground is the northern half of the original grade-separated roundabout junction, while visible in the distance is the new bridge seen from the first of the viewpoint 2 photos.


Here's a shot of the Royal Canal as it crosses the M50 mainline on the aqueduct. It's hard to believe that the motorway is immediately below the water here. The bridge in the distance is part of the western section of the original grade-separated roundabout.


Looking back to the east, we see one of the original canal bridges, which has somehow survived the both the original junction six and its subsequent upgrading.


We now move to vantage point 4, under the three flyovers than span the canal and the railway. Looking south from the north bank of the canal, we're right under the N3 inbound M50 southbound (L) and M50 northbound to N3 outbound (R) bridges. The Dublin to Sligo railway line is immediately behind the metal fence at the bottom of the shot.


Looking west from under the bridge, the M50 southbound to N3 outbound loop is seen merging with the M50 northbound to N3 outbound flyover.


Turning the camera back the other way, we see the same loop as it dives under the three bridges.


My final shot is a driver's eye view (almost!) of the M50 southbound to N3 outbound loop, just as it passes under the three bridges marked at (4) on the key map.


If the weather holds (and anyone's interested!) I'll try and get more shots of this and J7 during the week.

/csd