M17/M18 - Gort to Tuam [open to traffic]

sleepyman wrote: »

So a sod turning doesn't actually signal the start of construction?

Usually it does within weeks. This is a strange one

How many junctions are planned between Gort and the M6 and where will they be?

Citizenpain wrote: »

Map in the post just before yours . 1 kiltiernan

Seems odd that there's no junction anywhere near the old N6 to serve Craughwell.

Craughwell is only 10km from the M6 at J17.

Carawaystick wrote: »

Population of Craughwell 1634
Of that how much traffic would not be going to Galway anyway?

There is a relativy straight and empty road between Craughwell and Galway. The opening of the M6 has seen traffic volumes on the old N6 plummet. It is now a pleasure to drive on the N6, previous to the M6 it was overcrowded and dangerous.

It the route on the map below the finalized route, that is to say will there be any adjustments or is this set in stone?
http://www.galway.ie/en/media/n17n18%20SCHEME%20MAP.pdf

GalwayMagpie wrote: »

There is a relativy straight and empty road between Craughwell and Galway. The opening of the M6 has seen traffic volumes on the old N6 plummet. It is now a pleasure to drive on the N6, previous to the M6 it was overcrowded and dangerous.

It the route on the map below the finalized route, that is to say will there be any adjustments or is this set in stone?
http://www.galway.ie/en/media/n17n18%20SCHEME%20MAP.pdf

Sorry, I misread the post and assumed it was a junction onto the m18 where it crosses the old n6

I agree there's a fine ws2 road from craughwell to Galway, and that's where most of the traffic will go,
There will not be enough southbound traffic to justify a junction on the m18

flat 2 the..... wrote: »

Will there be a slip road on the n63 roscommon To galway road

Yes - see map a couple of posts up

Yes, I saw it. A helicopter was also flying the same route 2 weeks ago. It's possibly the ESB checking lines, I've heard they do this every so often. Aerial LiDAR or imagery surveys would take several passes over flight lines and that helicopter didn't do that.

f2 wrote: »

Talking to a mate near Tuam, said he saw a helicopter flying route of M17 at approx, 3.00 pm, anybody else see it!

Quick question. Is there anywhere that shows exactly what type of bridges are being built and if the motorway is being raised or embankments being built in specific places? I've looked at the maps on the Galway CoCo website but I can't tell for certain whats what. Anyone with insight or knowledge that can enlighten me please?

I'm wondering specifically about the 4km to 6km section on the M17 north of the M6 junction. Structures #3 and #4 and the stretch of motorway between these two structures. M17 brochure (Page 6 of brochure)

As far as I can tell #3 will have the motorway raised/going over the R339 Monivea road?

# 4 will be the opposite and have the L3105 road raised/going over the motorway?

Can anyone tell me will the motorway have an embankment built along the sides between these two structures?? I think it will from looking at the map (brown shaded area along both sides) but I'm not certain.

Looking at purchasing a house in this area. Are we nuts to even consider it giving the construction and disruption of the next 2 years and potential noise then from the completed motorway?? Anyone gone through similar??

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Quick question. Is there anywhere that shows exactly what type of bridges are being built and if the motorway is being raised or embankments being built in specific places?

This is part of the detail design that will be done by the consortium, the designs will come come out in due. I'd check up on previous Roadbridge & Sisk projects to get a rough idea on what the bridges will look like (the M6 G-B was built by a different consortium).

Any bridges will have some form of embankment, the only question really will be the scale, as overbridges and under bridges will have different requirements.

As a rule of thumb, the majority of bridges for L & R roads have been overbridges, so I'd take a look at the overbridge near Athenry golf club for an example of how they look and the traffic noise.

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Looking at purchasing a house in this area. Are we nuts to even consider it giving the construction and disruption of the next 2 years and potential noise then from the completed motorway?? Anyone gone through similar??

It depends on a) how far away from the motorway you are b) if you are looking at an area that will need to be blasted and c) if the local roads will be used for construction traffic.

If you're within about 1-1.5 km away then the noise won't be much but any blasting could cause an issue a few years down the line if there is any weakness in the structure of the house (I know of a couple of places with cracks after the blasting in Doughiska for the M6).

As for traffic, some of the local roads in the athenry area were destroyed by the amount of trucks etc. trying to get access to the site, so you'll need to figure out if the roads will be used to get access - if there's a bridge on the road it will be used.

The audible noise from a Motorway is never as cut and dry as distance. There are many factors to take into consideration.

Topography is a very important factor, so if the motorway is elevated in relation to your vantage point, and there are no obstacles in the path of any sound waves, than the noise will be very audible even at considerable distance. However if your vantage point slightly elevated in relation to the Motorway than the land bank between you and the motorway will absorb a considerable amount of the noise. If there exists substantial, mature vegetation, between you and the motorway this will greatly reduce the noise level. A bank of tall and mature Leylandii will work wonders.

Everything that stands between you and the Motorway will diffract, defuse, absorb and reduce the noise, until it first becomes a very noticeable drone, the a background drone, then disappears.

Other factors to take note of are orientation, being downwind of the motorway would be less desirable than upwind. Noise barriers have a not inconsiderable impact. Road surface is also important, newer motorways tend to be quieter as the surface is created to be so.

Also what noise levels are you happy with/unhappy with? The background drone of urban living is something that we always filter out. I lived in Oranmore, about 300m from the N18, and was moving to a place, a little out in the country but not far from a busy road. I was worried about traffic noise, but little did I realise that the house in Oranmore had greater traffic noise levels that the new house, I had just filtered it out the road noise.

There are a lot of roads around the Athenry Motorway junction. North of this would be a worst case scenario, elevated motorway, no vegetation, no barrier, downwind of the noise.
Consider the housing estate Roscam, how much noise can you hear from the Oranmore bypass? It depends on where you are in the estate, but I would guess many visiting people would not realise they are about 150 meters from possibly the busiest road in all of Galway.

flazio wrote: »

I presume those wood walls on the last stretch of the "N6" between Oranmore exit and the Douch Uisce roundabout are for noise reduction, do they work?

I thought they were for wind? Correct me I'm wrong???

muchos04 wrote: »

I thought they were for wind? Correct me I'm wrong???

I had initially thought the same until one day I was on a local road, adjacent to the M6 near the Oranmore junction, as noticed that the barriers were located at the points where properties were in close proximity to the motorway. Then thinking about it, if you were going to build wind barriers it would make sense to protect larger stretches, cross winds don't occur at point x, and then be completely absent 20-30 meters down the road.

Also these guys are claiming credit for building noise barriers on the M6.

http://motorwaycare.com/M6_Kinnegad_Galway.html

glineli wrote: »

Anyone know when we should start to see a bit of action on the route, even fencing would be a start.

The route from Gort past Kiltiernan has been fenced off for the past number of years, not sure how much further on it goes, but I would think if the land has been purchased already, most of the fencing in is place. Interestingly enough, there was drain cleaning works on the motorway from Gort southbound today.