M11 Road Works

Marhay70 wrote: »

Just in passing I noticed hand painted signs for Jack Whites and the Tap. Surely these are illegal and the actual act of placing them there was illegal. Pay for your signage like everyone else.

surprised BAM hasn't taken them down yet!!! but yeah surely those landmarks such as jack whites and beehive or lil doyles that would have usually had been used by AA roadwatch in traffic reports should get there name on signs by the NRA. only matter of time before they close the doors since passing trade has moved

craggy2 wrote:

picked this up in Naas today €11.25, one left on the shelf

What's the purpose of the lay-bys on this stretch of road? The signs say "Authorised vehicles only", so I presume they're for maintenance vehicles because there are separate ramps for Garda cars. I've already seen cars parked in them and, being Ireland, it's only a matter of time before they become car parks.

That's a possibility all right cookie though with the amount spent on the road you'd think they'd have sprung for a weighbridge as well.

jd wrote: »

I think there is a gate on to private land at one of these lay-bys - it possible could enable access to Coillte lands if necessary. I'd have to look more closely next time I'm down

Passed both ways yesterday, didn't notice a gate at either lay-by although strangely enough there are gates at other locations, I can't remember ever seeing that on a motorway before. I did notice the gates when the road was being built and they were used by construction traffic, I thought they would have been blocked off on completion, strikes me as being a bit dangerous.

Poochie05 wrote: »

There is a gate just before the lay-by going southbound, it leads from the old road. I presume this is for access for the 'authorised vehicles' that can only use these lay-bys.

Yes, that's one of the gates I mentioned. It doesn't make any sense to me that any vehicle bigger than a toy car would come out at right angles onto a motorway with traffic passing at 120kph.

jd wrote: »

Is it on to Coillte land? Maybe it is for emergency access in case of fire etc?

No, it's on to the old N11 south of Jack White's, I think the Coillte land is near the Beehive. There are several gates, all of which I think access the old road, as far as I remember there is one close to Lil Doyle's, close to the bridge that was used by construction traffic.

cookie.monster wrote: »

i,d say these are for gardai,maintenance vehicles etc to gain acces as i have seen a garda car parked at the one near barndarraig checking speed. they could also be used if say there was an accident on the road to allow traffic use old road because they are at several locations on the road

I can't see why Gardaí would check for speed from off the motorway when there are purpose built ramps on the motorway but then a lot of things Gardaí do and don't do confuse me. I thought Gardaí had to actually stop you to give you a speeding ticket, has this changed because by the time they'd get the gate open to follow, the speeder would be in Donegal. I must take a trip on the old section of road and see if the gates are actually locked.

Marhay70 wrote: »

I can't see why Gardaí would check for speed from off the motorway when there are purpose built ramps on the motorway but then a lot of things Gardaí do and don't do confuse me. I thought Gardaí had to actually stop you to give you a speeding ticket, has this changed because by the time they'd get the gate open to follow, the speeder would be in Donegal. I must take a trip on the old section of road and see if the gates are actually locked.

yeah shur they can stand on an over pass with speed gun that has anpr built in kinda like gatso vans but its usually on a tripod, have seen them few times in cork when you go past mahon point. i think the gates are actually locked must take quick gander meself, but it they were open the people of barndarriag wouldn't need to head to jack whites to join the motorway lol

Poochie05 wrote: »

I think I saw someone mention in the Roads Forum that these areas are for other types of checks, such as customs and excise etc. The guards doing speed checks there recently is probably just a show of force to remind road users not to get carried away on the lovely quiet and smooth surface.

Yeah, that idea was put forward by cookie monster a while back and it does seem logical. I still can't see why they would do that and not include a weighbridge though, doesn't make economic sense. The utilities are there to service it, all that would be required is a small hut and the scales, chickenfeed in the scheme of things and overweight trucks have long been a problem on our roads.

Last I heard was November, Applegreen have the contract.

Topaz won the contract? It's barely a month since it was in the Local papers that Applegreen had it.

Marhay70 wrote: »

Topaz won the contract? It's barely a month since it was in the Local papers that Applegreen had it.

The Wexford/Wicklow People group of papers had it as Topaz.
http://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklowpeople/news/m11-services-wont-open-until-end-of-year-31255634.html
http://www.wexfordpeople.ie/news/motorway-link-to-dublin-to-open-in-matter-of-weeks-31334328.html


http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0814/721395-topaz-challenge/

Denis O' Brien at it again,a great little country we live in.