TII Motorway Service Areas (MSA) Progress Thread

dcr22B wrote: »

M1 Service area (Applegreen M1) now open. Good facility it has to be said.

The construction of the M8 Cashel Service Area requires an overbridge over the M8
motorway to allow access to and from the northbound carriageway.
The bridge could be either a two or three span structure. A two span structure would
require a pier to be constructed in the median of the existing M8. This would require
the M8 to be widened locally to allow a widened median to facilitate the pier and
associated safety barriers. The construction of the widened median would result in
significant disruption to traffic on the M8 and is therefore not a favourable option. It
is therefore recommended that a three span structure is provided with piers located
west of the verge of the northbound carriageway and diverge, and east of the verge of
the southbound carriageway where the existing lay by shall be removed. Bankseats
will be provided at the top of the embankments. This will result in a main span of
27m and side span of 12m. The structural form of the bridge would more than likely
consist of precast pretensioned concrete U beams with a composite in-situ reinforced
concrete deck slab supported by integral twin concrete circular piers and bankseat
abutments. Foundations would most likely be concrete pads for both piers and
bankseats depending on ground conditions. The exact structural from will be
determined at detailed design stage.

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Ridiculous crap that they have to widen it.

Overbridge
An overbridge over the dual carriageway will be provided at chainage 5+010m to
provide access to and from the southbound carriageway.
The construction of the overbridge will involve excavation in the verges of the M8 to
allow the construction of pier foundations; the construction of bankseat abutments
and embankments. Precast beams will be manufactured off site and delivered to site
for lifting into position on to the bankseats and crosshead beams. Lifting of the main
span beams will involve temporary total closure of the M8 for a short period. This is
estimated to occur over one or two nights. Side span beams may be placed into
position from the adjacent embankments. With the precast beams in place, in-situ
concrete diaphragms will be cast forming the integral deck/pier and deck/bankseat
connections. Permanent formwork will be erected on the beams and the composite
deck slab will be cast. Backfilling behind the abutments will be completed, and the
bridge will be finished with deck waterproofing, drainage, service ducts, public
lighting, parapets and surfacing.

BluntGuy wrote: »

Yeah, I was sure when I read it it said something like 18,800 or 18,900 or something to that effect.

Anyway, the MSA looks to be viable. 1,700 AADT throughput. Say the average number of adult, paying occupents per car is between 1 and 3. That should give the contractor sufficient business.

I don't know about this though. Does the EIS take into account the Topaz/McDonalds development? I don't think it does.

Rest-stop concerns as 300km of road are designated motorway

A LACK of rest-stops on some 300km of newly-designated motorway was criticised yesterday as posing a major safety hazard.Sections of 10 national roads were yesterday redesignated as motorway, giving them a new speed limit of 120km/h and prohibiting learner drivers and pedestrians from using them.
Irish motorways do not yet have any service stops as in other European countries. These were essential from a safety point of view, said Automobile Association policy adviser Conor Faughnan.
“One of the major hazards on motorways is that drivers are prone to fatigue. Doing long miles on high-quality roads means that drivers are vulnerable to micro-sleep and drifting across lanes.”
However, a National Roads Authority (NRA) spokeswoman said if people were tired there were offramps into towns and villages until the service station programme was in place.
The NRA has planned over a dozen service stations on the entire motorway network. The contract for six service stations on the M1 and M4 is expected to be signed in the next few weeks. However, a tender has not yet been advertised for service stations on the remainder of the network.
Not all of the new motorway signage and road furniture were installed on the newly-classified roads yesterday.
In Co Clare, conflicting speed limit signs just yards from each other on a motorway slip-road left motorists confused. At least one 100km/h sign remained in place on the motorway between Ennis and Clarecastle, with no 120km/h sign to be found on the motorway except on two slip-roads.
The NRA said it was not possible to erect all the signs in time for the upgrade, and it hoped to have all signs up by today.
Concerns have been raised in Clare about the suitability of the Ennis bypass offramps for motorway classification. The NRA yesterday said safety checks had been carried out and the ramps complied with standards.
Learner drivers, cyclists and slow-moving tractors will have to seek new routes because they are not allowed on motorways.
With driving test waiting lists down to eight or nine weeks, “there is no reason why a learner driver should be allowed to use the motorway”, Mr Faughnan said.
Among the sections of road reclassified are: 13km of the N2 (Killshane-Ashbourne); 7km of the N4 (Kinnegad-McNead’s Bridge); 20km of the N6 (Athlone-Ballinasloe); 8.5km of the Limerick Southern Ring; 7km of the N8 (Watergrasshill-Glanmire) and the Glanmire bypass (6.3km); three sections of the N11 (including 8km from Ashford-Rathnew, 21km from Arklow-Gorey and 7km of the Arklow bypass); 2.1km of the N3 (Littlepace to Loughsallagh); two sections of the N18 (Shannon to Ennis 8.3km; Ennis bypass 12.5km); and 5km of the N20/N21 (Limerick to Attyflin).