N6 - Athlone Bypass Upgrade works

flazio · 10-09-2010 6:18pm

emfifty wrote: »

Well I was so pi**ed off with this decision I had to put finger to keyboard...:)

Dear Mr. Dempsey,

I am very disappointed to note the N6 bypass of Athlone is not being upgraded to Motorway status. The reasons given for not doing so are nothing short of ridiculous.
You have now made a serious mis-judgement and have promoted the continued use of the bypass by cyclists, pedestrians and tractors on a national inter-urban road.
This is highly dangerous and instead of promoting road safety you have indulged in more 'looking after the locals' instead of the strategic interests of the route.

The NRA have already put in place plans to upgrade the road. So your decision makes this upgrade meaningless.

The recent edition of the Westmeath Independent states 'all the councillors present at the meeting were delighted with the decision'. Why does this not surprise me.

Again you have made another decision in the local interest, not the national.

Fianna Fail's days are numbered.

Yours Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxx

Well if you have a better cheap idea on how to get agricultural vehicles across the Shannon so they can keep producing the food on your table without bringing the town of Athlone to a stand still then I'd love to hear it.
As it is today, between the two rush hours there is always a line of traffic backed up heading east bound on that bridge from the lights at the AIB back to the roundabout outside the P&P Cathedral and sometimes in rush times, this can be backed up along the river all the way to the railway bridge.
You want to add to that misery, just so some over worked rep can get back to his Maynooth crib 5 minutes quicker?

10-09-2010 6:33pm

Personally I couldn't give a fiddlers whether it's a motorway or not. I'd be a lot more upset if they don't improve the junctions as part of this upgrade, it's a right pain trying to get onto any of the main roads from the N6.

whyulittle · 16-09-2010 6:35pm

Trees cut back in front of the big sign between J9 and J10 westbound this evening, with the structure for a new sign nearer the J10 offramp erected.

16-09-2010 6:49pm

whyulittle wrote: »

Trees cut back in front of the big sign between J9 and J10 westbound this evening, with the structure for a new sign nearer the J10 offramp erected.

Erect the "correct signs" first then dig up the road to rebuild it (risking damage to the signs) that's great planning! :rolleyes:

whyulittle · 17-09-2010 12:27pm

€7m bypass overhaul to commence next month

Athlone Advertiser, September 17, 2010.

By Triona Doherty

The overhaul of the Athlone Relief Road (bypass) will cost in the region of €7 million and may take up to 40 weeks to complete.

The facelift of the seven kilometre stretch of dual carriageway will include a new surface to reduce noise levels, the upgrade of safety barriers, tree cutting, and the removal of Eircom, Broadband, and BT connections from the centre to the verges of the road, a task that alone will cost in the region of €1 million.

There are plans to increase the capacity of the off-ramps along the stretch, while the necessity for roundabouts or traffic lights at the Garrycastle, Coosan, and Ballymahon interchanges is also being examined.

More at Athlone Advertiser.

KevR · 17-09-2010 12:36pm

I'm glad to hear that they are looking at how some of the junctions can be improved. I assume that Garrycastle is J9; if so, they badly need to do something with this because right turns can sometimes be a nightmare. Longer acceleration/deceleration lanes at J13 (Monksland) are a must also.

Another bit from the article:

The council has promised to liaise with the NRA to improve signage on the bypass, with several councillors calling for signs on either approach to Athlone indicating that there are six separate exits off the bypass for the town. It is also hoped brown signage can be erected to indicate the presence of major tourist attractions.

Kilmartin's Service Station should be properly signposted. It's open 24hrs and the M6 MSAs were scraped..

whyulittle · 17-09-2010 12:40pm

Garrycastle is J9, Ballymahon (Road) is J10 and Coosan J11.

veryangryman · 17-09-2010 1:38pm

whyulittle wrote: »

More at Athlone Advertiser.

Oh god please no traffic lights :eek:

The idea of upgrading the journey is to speed up the journey, not slow it down

17-09-2010 2:29pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Oh god please no traffic lights :eek:

The idea of upgrading the journey is to speed up the journey, not slow it down

+100
Mini-roundabouts please

flazio · 18-09-2010 9:56am

I hope you don't mean a Big white dot in the middle of the road because that would be a disaster. The Garrycastle exit is the one that's signposted for Blyry Industrial estate and yes that junction can be a nightmare on a weekday morning so some progress would be nice on that junction, unfortunately I can't see a full size roundabout being able to fit there.
A mini roundabout wouldn't do beacuse the HGVs and the Unimogs of the ESB would have trouble getting around them, and also, unless they can adjust the route of the Mount Temple road to become an exit of the roundabout, that existing junction could be very dangerous and tricky to do a right turn out of.

18-09-2010 10:19am

It would need to be a type of dumbell layout, not individual mini-roundabouts.
The prime reason for improving the junctions is to allow traffic leaving the bypass equal rights to pass as that traffic on the main road

whyulittle · 20-09-2010 7:16pm

I see they did a better job trimming back the trees on the J8 to J9 section. They literally cut them down on the section approaching J10, giving you a 'nice' view into the back of Brawny.

Also I was out at Kimartin's this morning around 9. Couldn't believe the traffic. It was backed up from their roundabout, to the roundabout onto the N/M6. Loads of traffic heading into town, and I'm sure it must have been well backed up out the old N6. Is it always that busy? I'd never been in that part of town at that time of the morning .

flazio · 22-09-2010 12:17am

I presume you mean around 9 o clock, where you have IDA estate employees, college students and general shoppers all converging in that spot? Yep it is, not a lot that can be done about it though

22-09-2010 8:24am

flazio wrote: »

I presume you mean around 9 o clock, where you have IDA estate employees, college students and general shoppers all converging in that spot? Yep it is, not a lot that can be done about it though

Staggard starting times for the affected businesses would help a lot.

whyulittle · 22-09-2010 8:46pm

Traffic chaos fears voiced

by Adrian Cusack

Work on €7m bypass upgrade to take 40 weeks

Motorists using the Athlone relief road could face significant traffic disruption for close to a year once work on the €7m overhaul of the road gets underway next month.

Lane and interchange closures will be implemented as part of the project, which will involve resurfacing more than 7km of road and relocating telecommunications and broadband cables beneath its surface.

It prompted local councillors, whilst welcoming of the project, to express fears at the impact of the traffic disruption to local businesses, particularly around Christmas.

Front page news this week, but mainly just councillors complaining. However, it does state that there will not be any upgrade of lighting at the exchanges.

Full story at Westmeath Independent.

Oops just noticed that they haven't actually put the whole story on the site, they forgot to link to page 5! Like I said, not much to it anyway.

22-09-2010 8:51pm

From the same story.

A shortlist of seven companies had been drawn up for the project, he said. The successful contractor would be chosen within a fortnight and work would then start in October. Discussing the duration of the project, Mr Kelly said, "Up to 40 weeks is being allocated for this work. It's possible it could take longer but that is unlikely."

Why has it taken so long to do this, and do they mean the beginning or end of October.

KevR · 22-09-2010 11:06pm

whyulittle wrote: »

However, it does state that there will not be any upgrade of lighting at the exchanges.

Really disappointing in my opinion. It's a busy high-speed road and if it's going to remain DC (i.e. - pedestrians/cyclists/slow moving vehicles allowed on the bypass) then the whole bypass should get streetlighting, even improved lighting at interchanges wouldn't be good enough.

Wild Bill · 23-09-2010 7:40pm

KevR wrote: »

Really disappointing in my opinion. It's a busy high-speed road and if it's going to remain DC (i.e. - pedestrians/cyclists/slow moving vehicles allowed on the bypass) then the whole bypass should get streetlighting, even improved lighting at interchanges wouldn't be good enough.

Similar blind spot by the NRA on the M11 Bray bypass. 1km dark stretch in a continuously lit Motorway/DC stretching from north of Swords to the Glen of the Downs (40 miles).

Already one child killed here on a dark November evening (about 2 years ago) - kids run across the motorway regularly - it severed an estate from playing fields and the NRA/Local Authority refused to build a footbridge.

This section has poor road markings which are never refreshed (since 1992!!), no studs, crap on/off ramps (worse than anything on the Athlone bypass).

Yet the NRA ignore all requests to light up the section. :mad:

whyulittle · 26-09-2010 8:36pm

Thought I'd get some shots pre upgrade work.

J8E

6E86E4BAEF9C48B6AB3CD7668AC87289-0000315944-0001941284-00800L-01210895F48C4C729FC767F46F585CC5.jpg

J8W

6221E2168D654F579A992DF873E4ED48-0000315944-0001941283-00800L-999F2B9446954D57844558744893512A.jpg

J9E

F25FCA701E164FD09875D48D5B05ADAB-0000315944-0001941282-00800L-60B26C3F48AA428EB2D3C6DC64156D7C.jpg

J9W

5DE1693F21C54BFA9741CEE713E5DDC9-0000315944-0001941281-00800L-6B71D8D29B2C43DFB882C1DA47DD5995.jpg

J10E

B2BE51FABF3141B98918E30F2E636C27-0000315944-0001941288-00800L-3C7A5F9A8F76446E9DB057BC65561E9B.jpg

J10W

757DA9D9F3E14D3489AFECC653E0368C-0000315944-0001941287-00800L-B84A10C8E6024EA08BEECEFA31E6113B.jpg

J13E

71104AE83E5C4E10ACD77D5611F15BAE-0000315944-0001941286-00800L-672B5704534647D7B2EBECF2F06515CC.jpg

J13W

91B758102ECB45F3ABB86E5FE39F6EEB-0000315944-0001941285-00800L-794722E44A1C4E71B7B6F0B5F0C63B62.jpg

A long line of tractors joined at J13, and then promptly stopped a couple of hundred yards down the HS, random wheels sticking into the driving lane.

dubhthach · 26-09-2010 9:01pm

whyulittle wrote: »

J13E

J13W

A long line of tractors joined at J13, and then promptly stopped a couple of hundred yards down the HS, random wheels sticking into the driving lane.

Must be some of the 10k tractors a day that Mysterious use to talk about!

Empire o de Sun · 26-09-2010 9:32pm

Wild Bill wrote: »

Similar blind spot by the NRA on the M11 Bray bypass. 1km dark stretch in a continuously lit Motorway/DC stretching from north of Swords to the Glen of the Downs (40 miles)

looks like your odometer isn't working

~ 75 km

Wild Bill · 26-09-2010 10:25pm

According to the AA site it is 67.7 km (37.7 miles) from Lissenhall to the Glen.
That's close enough to round off to "40 miles"?

Maybe the AA odes are malfunctioning?

billbond4 · 27-09-2010 9:29am

They could do with putting up a few more wrong way turn back signs on the slip roads as well.
I met a lad coming against me near J13(monksland) on saturday night, I was going westbound and he was going eastbound in the same carriageway, I would love to know where he got on the road!!
I rang the cops on the old codger, I didnt hear of any accident so hopefully either he managed to turn around or the cops got him

27-09-2010 9:45am

billbond4 wrote: »

They could do with putting up a few more wrong way turn back signs on the slip roads as well.
I met a lad coming against me near J13(monksland) on saturday night, I was going westbound and he was going eastbound in the same carriageway, I would love to know where he got on the road!!
I rang the cops on the old codger, I didnt hear of any accident so hopefully either he managed to turn around or the cops got him

Chances are he had a few jars and forgot that the road layout changed after the Ballinasloe motorway was opened! :rolleyes:

You can't stop stupidity like that with extra signs!

Centre lane barriers on the short section of single carriageway between the roundabout and the LILO would help, but some drivers can't be helped, only a crash stops them!

27-09-2010 3:17pm

Driving eastbound mid-morning I saw a VMS warning that the hardshoulder was closed ahead for pipelaying, I didn't see any work as I left at Coosan.

veryangryman · 27-09-2010 3:25pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Driving eastbound mid-morning I saw a VMS warning that the hardshoulder was closed ahead for pipelaying, I didn't see any work as I left at Coosan.

Nothing there when i passed either

Worse than that, N61 north after Ganleys a VMS for stop and go system ahead

I drove all the way to Crossmolina without seeing such a stop and go....

whyulittle · 29-09-2010 7:23pm

There was an interesting little aside in an article in the Westmeath Independent this week. The main article is about a big re-zoning plan in Athlone (previous articles here).

Tara Spain on behalf of the National Roads Authority:
Called for a Strategic Transport Assessment to be carried out in consultation with the NRA and CIE.

The manager (County) in his reply detailed the following strategy:
Traffic capacity improved at Creggan (Kilmartin's) roundabout.
Junction improvements to the M6 motorway and N6 bypass.
Athlone bypass to be upgraded to dual three-lanes over 4km from Creggan to Coosan junctions.
Old N6 will be upgraded to dual carriageway status between Clonbonny junction and Creggan roundabout.
Widening of the R466 between Creggan roundabout and Athlone Business Park.

The council are also proposing a new development levy to fund a €29 million southern relief road linking Creggan to Golden Island.

29-09-2010 8:31pm

Replacing the bridge at Garrycastle would solve many of the problems for a start, hopefully the bypass upgrade will take on board some of those points - like a third lane (aux) between junctions (where possible).

whyulittle · 29-09-2010 8:50pm

There were a few more points, including Garrycastle road improvement.

The bridge had to go back to public consultation etc after they forgot to leave enough space under it, for eh, trains!

veryangryman · 29-09-2010 9:01pm

whyulittle wrote: »

There were a few more points, including Garrycastle road improvement.

The bridge had to go back to public consultation etc after they forgot to leave enough space under it, for eh, trains!

What trains? And no they will never reopen that line. Not now, not ever

veryangryman · 29-09-2010 9:03pm

Bypass needs widening from Coosan to Tuam Exit, not the other side. My god...

Tractors coming to/from Roscommon side are the big problem for safety

29-09-2010 9:20pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Bypass needs widening from Coosan to Tuam Exit, not the other side. My god...

Tractors coming to/from Roscommon side are the big problem for safety

I suspect that the cost of widening the bridges would be prohibitive.
An extra (aux) lane between the Roscomon and Tuam exits would be welcome.

veryangryman · 29-09-2010 9:23pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I suspect that the cost of widening the bridges would be prohibitive.
An extra (aux) lane between the Roscomon and Tuam exits would be welcome.

Maybe change the line painting to make narrower lanes ~3M a la M50 upgrade for that short stint. Lose the hard shoulder on the bridge same way port tunnel does

Cheap as chips:pac:

L1011 · 29-09-2010 9:25pm

There is no hard shoulder on the bridge... there's a narrow strip but its not near full width. No space for 3 over that deck.

flazio · 30-09-2010 2:03am

I'd love a re design of the Roscommon road exit as the current model is awful. Maybe on the west bound side an off ramp up to a roundabout and a bridge over to the Ganly's roundabout,(closing that awful U Turn) merging with more gradual off lane from the east bound carrigeway. Something along the lines of Junction 14 in Ballinalsoe in other words.

billbond4 · 30-09-2010 10:07am

--start rant--
More mickying around, after the year it will take them to upgrade the bypass.
Then will will take another year to upgrade the junctions, its no wonder the country is fecked, no communication between government departments and it will be people using the road who will have to suffer, but sure who cares about them.
--end rant--
Anyway I see that they have started the upgrade works starting at junction 13 westbound, i find it strange as its still out to tender.

whyulittle · 30-09-2010 5:50pm

New signs erected between J8 and J10 (at least).

There was a lorry westbound this morning clearing the drains between J10 and J9.

30-09-2010 7:22pm

whyulittle wrote: »

New signs erected between J8 and J10 (at least).

There was a lorry westbound this morning clearing the drains between J10 and J9.

Green ones?

whyulittle · 30-09-2010 7:34pm

Yep, green ones.

The big sign westbound coming up to J9 has been changed, now has Cavan, Longford and Blyry on a white background. Never pay a whole lot of attention to that exit, so not sure if they were always on it.

Then coming up to the J10 offramp, there is a middle sized sign for Cavan/Athlone (or maybe town centre). Didn't notice if the big size on that stretch was replaced yet.

veryangryman · 01-10-2010 3:30pm

Wondering about the fact that the upgrade is only on Westmeath side...

Is it just done via county council or is this strictly NRAs baby? It would make sense as to why Roscommon Coco not got finger out...

- Once you hit Roscommon side of Athlone, the roads go all medieval
- Coming from bypass - same thing. Piss-poor junctions up to M6 (which was done via Galway Coco anyway_
- Coming from N5 over Mayo-Ros border, almost the minute you hit Roscommon, the road gets awful

I know that its a backward county (witness the amount of tractors in it) but surely these routes should be improved. What are the council at there?

Compare with Westmeath in recent times

- Current works on bypass for Athlone
- Relief road for Mullingar (which didnt even need it really!)

By the way, please ignore all of the above rant if this is strictly an NRA project. Its Friday and i need an excuse to rave

veryangryman · 01-10-2010 3:32pm

whyulittle wrote: »

Yep, green ones.

The big sign westbound coming up to J9 has been changed, now has Cavan, Longford and Blyry on a white background. Never pay a whole lot of attention to that exit, so not sure if they were always on it.

Then coming up to the J10 offramp, there is a middle sized sign for Cavan/Athlone (or maybe town centre). Didn't notice if the big size on that stretch was replaced yet.

At the junction, they need to get rid of the "town centre" sign which leads you onto Garycastle Bridge also. Might minimise unnecessary traffic there. Let them use the previous or next exit.*

*And leave the bridge for thrifty locals like me!

whyulittle · 01-10-2010 6:08pm

Doesn't seem to be much order to the way they are replacing the signs.

The new large sign coming up to Garrycaslte from J8 doesn't mention Athlone or town centre. Not sure what the old small signs say.

The new small sign coming up to Ballymahon Road is signed for Cavan and Athlone. The large sign hasn't been replaced yet.

Coming up to Coosan J11, there are new white signs, no sign of any green.

01-10-2010 7:55pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Wondering about the fact that the upgrade is only on Westmeath side...

Is it just done via county council or is this strictly NRAs baby? It would make sense as to why Roscommon Coco not got finger out...

- Once you hit Roscommon side of Athlone, the roads go all medieval
- Coming from bypass - same thing. Piss-poor junctions up to M6 (which was done via Galway Coco anyway_
- Coming from N5 over Mayo-Ros border, almost the minute you hit Roscommon, the road gets awful

I know that its a backward county (witness the amount of tractors in it) but surely these routes should be improved. What are the council at there?

Compare with Westmeath in recent times

- Current works on bypass for Athlone
- Relief road for Mullingar (which didnt even need it really!)

By the way, please ignore all of the above rant if this is strictly an NRA project. Its Friday and i need an excuse to rave

Roscommon has a small population relative to the miles of road maintained, so the quality will be lower.

[rant]
btw, agriculture does now equal backward! :mad: The way this country is going, agriculture may be the driver out of the current depression.
[/rant]

L1011 · 01-10-2010 10:23pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Roscommon has a small population relative to the miles of road maintained, so the quality will be lower.

And yet the old Tuam road (well, still is, but I find M6/N18 quicker now) is far better in Roscommon than in Galway somehow...

Wild Bill · 01-10-2010 11:12pm

veryangryman wrote: »

- Relief road for Mullingar (which didnt even need it really!)

I can't agree with that - ever been in Mullingar town centre at a busy time? :mad:

veryangryman · 02-10-2010 1:00pm

Wild Bill wrote: »

I can't agree with that - ever been in Mullingar town centre at a busy time? :mad:

Just saying it is amazing that a town that size got a relief froad which

- doesnt lead to Dublin
- bridges a canal
- was built during a recession

Also the new plan to dual the road in Athlone from N62 birr turn up to Kilmartins while also welcome, is patently not something that should be prioritised

Im sad to say this but now that the Inter Urbans are near complete and bypasses planned of most remaining bottlenecks, I think we should forget about new roads for another long while.

My fantasy wishlist (FWIW)

Roscommon bypass
Ballaghadreen Bypass
Claregalway Relief Road
Link Road improved (N66) Loughrea to Gort, giving Dublin-Athlone-Ennis/Gort bound traffic a full track of "broom broom" road to play with. Makes the occasional trip to stab/Kerry handier also

Wild Bill · 02-10-2010 11:09pm

veryangryman wrote: »

J
My fantasy wishlist (FWIW)

Roscommon bypass
Ballaghadreen Bypass
Claregalway Relief Road
Link Road improved (N66) Loughrea to Gort, giving Dublin-Athlone-Ennis/Gort bound traffic a full track of "broom broom" road to play with. Makes the occasional trip to stab/Kerry handier also

Well, my wish list would be:
N80; bypasses of Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Stradbally, Carlow, Ballon and Bunclody
N52; Birr, Kilcormac, Delvin, Ardee

From what I can garner from the NRA website the N80 and N52 cross-country roads carry twice the traffic of the N5 west of Longford. :cool:

spacetweek · 04-10-2010 3:48pm

veryangryman wrote: »

I know that its a backward county (witness the amount of tractors in it)

By the way, please ignore all of the above rant if this is strictly an NRA project. Its Friday and i need an excuse to rave

LOL!

Well your name is veryangryman after all so we cut you slack.

veryangryman · 07-10-2010 2:55pm

Who puts these signs together?

Black on white for some, white on green for others

Not saying the upgrades a bad thing but a bit of uniformity would have been too much to ask. together with the disastrous blue signage for Exit 13(Tuam/Monksland), we now have 3 different systems, making the bypass a National Road, a Motorway and a Regional road all in one.

Athlone - Where anything is possible. Get there, go anywhere! :cool:

Amtmann · 07-10-2010 2:57pm

Can someone post pictures of the new signage?

N6 - Athlone Bypass Upgrade works

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