M7 - Naas/Newbridge Bypass Upgrade [Junction 9a now open]

Mantis Toboggan · 11-09-2017 1:07pm

gilly2308 wrote: »

God it was horrendous this morning, over an hour from Junction 12 to the M50, and there wasn't even an incident of any sort. Sadly as we all know it's not going to get any better, yes the extra lane will help you heading home in the evening, but it will probably mean all of the M7/N7 traffic hitting the M50 a lot quicker in the morning.

It's still going to be just 3 lanes between naas and the m50 even after the "upgrade" so I'm not expecting it to improve much.

OldMrBrennan83 · 11-09-2017 1:21pm

This post has been deleted.

GhostyMcGhost · 11-09-2017 4:49pm

Tyson Fury wrote: »

It's still going to be just 3 lanes between naas and the m50 even after the "upgrade" so I'm not expecting it to improve much.

M50 is 3 lanes anyway and that’s a car park. Plus it’ll very likely be reduced to 100km/h which will be balls

Adding an extra lane doesn’t suddenly take a heap of cars off the road

road_high · 11-09-2017 7:42pm

I'll say it again but the only things that are going to improve the M7 are alternatives with large capacity- widen the rail track to Kildare and large park and ride at strategic points- that can use both rail and bus options. Sadly, there's zero vision for infrastructure and transport, just a make do limp to next election effort.
There's huge untapped demand and potential going untapped in Leinster and the GDA because the infrastructure isn't up to scratch.

pad199207 · 11-09-2017 9:30pm

It's been 11 years since the Naas to M50 was upgraded to 3 lanes.

It needs at least 5 lanes each side now at this stage

CeilingFly · 11-09-2017 9:39pm

pad199207 wrote: »

It's been 11 years since the Naas to M50 was upgraded to 3 lanes.

It needs at least 5 lanes each side now at this stage

Would make no difference to people working in Dublin - there's a finite amount of road space within the m50.

Similarly, trains are at capacity. Extra track is required to give a 3 track rail lime with third track used as the rush hour track in both directions.

As before, m7 upgrade will do very little for the commute into Dublin with only change being less congestion from m9 to Naas north, but it should make big difference to the home journey

Middle Man · 11-09-2017 10:14pm

pad199207 wrote: »

It's been 11 years since the Naas to M50 was upgraded to 3 lanes.

It needs at least 5 lanes each side now at this stage

That will solve nothing (3 lanes is the optimum width for motorways/major DCs IMO) - the only real solution for rush hour is the DART expansion programme including the inter-connector in full.

OldMrBrennan83 · 11-09-2017 10:19pm

This post has been deleted.

fergus1001 · 11-09-2017 10:30pm

How about a traffic light system on every on ramp to the motorway which allows a certain amount of traffic on the motorway at any one time, meaning that the motorway works at optimum speed to move the traffic along without causing traffic jams

It has been proven to work in other countries

If we upgraded the motorway to 5 lanes it will encourage more people to use the motorway which in turn will bring you back to square one

Another approach is to introduce a small toll charge which will dicourage people from using the motorway who don't exactly need to use it therefore freeing up the place

marno21 · 11-09-2017 11:29pm

fergus1001 wrote: »

How about a traffic light system on every on ramp to the motorway which allows a certain amount of traffic on the motorway at any one time, meaning that the motorway works at optimum speed to move the traffic along without causing traffic jams

It has been proven to work in other countries

If we upgraded the motorway to 5 lanes it will encourage more people to use the motorway which in turn will bring you back to square one

Another approach is to introduce a small toll charge which will dicourage people from using the motorway who don't exactly need to use it therefore freeing up the place

I've said this quite often. Discourage people from commuting on the M7 by all means, but you have to provide a viable alternative first.

Finish the DART Expansion project and build the Metro(s).

Then there is a REAL alternative to driving on the M7, which you can peak time toll to reduce congestion (not that people will want to drive if we have a proper rail transit system).

SoupyNorman · 12-09-2017 9:30am

Deedsie wrote: »

Priority bus measures could also help. One of the reasons people dont use buses is they have to share the same road space and congested junctions as private cars.

Considering motorists in Ireland dont bother using the left most lane on our 3 lane roads maybe it should be made a priority bus lane and for vehicles entering and exiting junctions.

Can you get out of my head please?

This is something I have been banging on about for years, the left lane could even be a carpool / bus lane. I think something like that along with strategic park and ride facilities would encourage both carpooling and bus use. I know I’d be far happier to drive to a P&R then bus the rest of the way if there was a dedicated bus lane into the city from the n7.

Obvious Otter · 12-09-2017 9:45am

Deedsie wrote: »

People will still drive. Tax saver bus tickets are an option availabls to most people that would save commuters thousands of €'s per year but they continue driving all the same.

Yes, becuase the bus service is so poor from the commuter belt into the city. The reason people still drive is because the train and light rail services are poorly laid out in the city. Public transport isn't good enough in this country to dissentivse the use of cars and the new BXD line only connects an already slow light rail service together.

Our public transport network is so disconnected, slow and not frequent enough to really tackle the amount of cars attempting to enter the city everyday.

Until the government show the ambition to build a proper rail service into Stephen's Green every other project is just putting a band aid over the problem.

jmkennedyie · 12-09-2017 5:21pm

Sallins bypass route added to openstreetmap as under construction. Might take a few hours for caches to be updated. http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/53.23461/-6.68352&layers=N

marno21 · 12-09-2017 8:40pm

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Sallins bypass route added to openstreetmap as under construction. Might take a few hours for caches to be updated. http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/53.23461/-6.68352&layers=N

With a quieter R407 out of Naas, perhaps there may be incentives to:

a. run shuttle busses to Sallins & Naas railway station
b. encourage cycling to the railway station now that traffic is much lighter on the road

Naas and Newbridge have chronic congestion issues despite being fully bypassed and in the case of Naas having a fairly complete relief/distributor road.

fergus1001 · 12-09-2017 8:57pm

Which to my disbelief no body f ING uses !

It's like driving through a north Korean city on that road !

L1011 · 12-09-2017 9:02pm

Outside of peak hours it can be slower due to the roundabouts; some of which have no extra exits.

Mantis Toboggan · 12-09-2017 9:12pm

fergus1001 wrote: »

Which to my disbelief no body f ING uses !

It's like driving through a north Korean city on that road !

Roundabouts on it are a disaster.

There needs to be a link road left off the ball roundabout linking up with the R410.

CeilingFly · 12-09-2017 9:13pm

L1011 wrote: »

Outside of peak hours it can be slower due to the roundabouts; some of which have no extra exits.

They are all there for future housing developments - one has just commenced.

marno21 · 12-09-2017 9:14pm

fergus1001 wrote: »

Which to my disbelief no body f ING uses !

It's like driving through a north Korean city on that road !

When it's busy from J9-J11 on the M7 due to an event (GAA match etc.) it's much faster to exit at J9 (use the inside lane/aux lane), drive down the relief road and rejoin the motorway at J10. Most people from down the country don't know about the relief road.

marno21 · 12-09-2017 9:15pm

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Roundabouts on it are a disaster.

There needs to be a link road left off the ball roundabout linking up with the R410.

This is in planning: http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/home/244663/naas-ring-road-planning-process-set-to-start.html

Mantis Toboggan · 12-09-2017 9:22pm

marno21 wrote: »

This is in planning: http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/home/244663/naas-ring-road-planning-process-set-to-start.html

Just getting spam on that link, free 500 euro Tesco voucher?

Anyway yeah that road is needed, hopefully it will Start soon.

gilly0512 · 13-09-2017 1:31pm

Has anyone got any idea as to why all of the traffic now starts slowing down or in some cases grinds to a halt just before Junction 7 in the morning? I understood somewhat why it stopped between Junctions 11 and 9 northbound (or eastbound to be technically correct) but I'm at a loss now as to why the traffic is starting to back up before Junction 7?

rameire · 13-09-2017 1:41pm

gilly2308 wrote: »

Has anyone got any idea as to why all of the traffic now starts slowing down or in some cases grinds to a halt just before Junction 7 in the morning? I understood somewhat why it stopped between Junctions 11 and 9 northbound (or eastbound to be technically correct) but I'm at a loss now as to why the traffic is starting to back up before Junction 7?

two reasons I can think of,
Low sun,
Idiots.

sea12 · 13-09-2017 2:34pm

rameire wrote: »

two reasons I can think of,
Low sun,
Idiots.

Part of it is people going cross country to avoid naas and new bridge and coming back onto the n7 at junction 7.
This m7 is just a nightmare commute now.

SoupyNorman · 13-09-2017 2:57pm

rameire wrote: »

Low sun,

Its like the insult to the injury, especially as we get closer to winter the low sun driving home is like a laser pen in your eyeball.

Causes many a crash at the Poitin Stil.

Mantis Toboggan · 13-09-2017 3:23pm

It's seems to have gotten a lot worse since the schools went back!

CeilingFly · 13-09-2017 3:26pm

Tyson Fury wrote: »

It's seems to have gotten a lot worse since the schools went back!

When schools are on holidays many workers take holidays too.

During the summer months approx 20% of the workforce are on holiday at any one time, so this lessens traffic. So its the general "holiday" time that lessens traffic rather than specifically school traffic.

OldMrBrennan83 · 13-09-2017 5:49pm

This post has been deleted.

spacetweek · 13-09-2017 11:12pm

marno21 wrote: »

This is in planning: http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/home/244663/naas-ring-road-planning-process-set-to-start.html

That's behind a paywall, can you summarise it for us?

hognef · 14-09-2017 9:10am

spacetweek wrote: »

That's behind a paywall, can you summarise it for us?

It seems to be dated 12 Apr 2017, so unlikely to be newsworthy at this point.

Mantis Toboggan · 14-09-2017 9:34am

spacetweek wrote: »

That's behind a paywall, can you summarise it for us?

Due to start soon and take 18 months.

Will link the sallins road to the blessington road road via the big ball.

KOR101 · 15-09-2017 9:22am

spacetweek wrote: »

That's behind a paywall, can you summarise it for us?

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FfxMgtCn0u8J:www.leinsterleader.ie/news/home/244663/naas-ring-road-planning-process-set-to-start.html&num=1&client=firefox-b&hl=en&gl=ie&strip=1&vwsrc=0

Be well and win · 19-09-2017 1:28pm

Gardaí car was parked at j6 northbound this morning and the guard was standing next to it so everyone was slowing down to see what was happening, which was absolutely nothing, no crash or anything. Wondering if he was watching for someone specific

Personally, I think one of the biggest causes of delays is people nipping up the exit ramps and coming down the other side to save themselves a minute or so, I see it every night on the way home, especially at the big ball which means loads more cars merging which means the traffic slows down even more. It's a viscious circle

Mantis Toboggan · 19-09-2017 1:54pm

Be well and win wrote: »

Gardaí car was parked at j6 northbound this morning and the guard was standing next to it so everyone was slowing down to see what was happening, which was absolutely nothing, no crash or anything. Wondering if he was watching for someone specific

Personally, I think one of the biggest causes of delays is people nipping up the exit ramps and coming down the other side to save themselves a minute or so, I see it every night on the way home, especially at the big ball which means loads more cars merging which means the traffic slows down even more. It's a viscious circle

2 squads past me with lights on in the hard shoulder, they seemed to be giving someone a police escort so something might have happened.

Traffic bad again this morning. My 17 minute commute was taking 20 minutes throughout the summer has now gone to 45 minutes.

benny79 · 19-09-2017 4:04pm

Be well and win wrote: »

Gardaar was parked at j6 northbound this morning and the guard was standing next to it so everyone was slowing down to see what was happening, which was absolutely nothing, no crash or anything. Wondering if he was watching for someone specific

Personally, I think one of the biggest causes of delays is people nipping up the exit ramps and coming down the other side to save themselves a minute or so, I see it every night on the way home, especially at the big ball which means loads more cars merging which means the traffic slows down even more. It's a viscious circle

Trust me when traffic is bad at the ball you save more than a minute or so!! As I have been driving that road for years.. You can save up to 15/20mins at times! believe me.

rameire · 21-09-2017 1:24pm

News on RTE and kfmradio saying M7 contracts have been signed.

Contracts signed with SIAC/Colas JV.

construction to start nearly straight Away.

Total project to be completed by Early 2020.
3 lanes from jn9 to jn11 NB and SB to be completed in Autumn 2019.

Anatom · 21-09-2017 1:44pm

rameire wrote: »

News on RTE and kfmradio saying M7 contracts have been signed.

Contracts signed with SIAC/Colas JV.

construction to start nearly straight Away.

Total project to be completed by Early 2020.
3 lanes from jn9 to jn11 NB and SB to be completed in Autumn 2019.

Great news!

screamer · 21-09-2017 1:46pm

Yep, three years of chaos, I'm sure that the daily commuters cannot wait for that to add to their daily commute. Ridiculous.

rameire · 21-09-2017 1:50pm

I think Ill move back to Dublin and not deal with the M7 Traffic anymore.

Shedite27 · 21-09-2017 1:58pm

screamer wrote: »

Yep, three years of chaos, I'm sure that the daily commuters cannot wait for that to add to their daily commute. Ridiculous.

There's always one

CeilingFly · 21-09-2017 2:23pm

screamer wrote: »

Yep, three years of chaos, I'm sure that the daily commuters cannot wait for that to add to their daily commute. Ridiculous.

can you explain "three years of chaos"

From each and every plan I see there will be two lanes open in both directions at all times. That's the same number as there are now. There was no chaos when they were strengthenign he hard shoudlers - the new lanes will be in the centre median and the only possible issue will be the odd breakdown that can't move onto the grass verge or one of the breakdown bays that will be in place

There will be lower speed limits and hopefully there will be average speed cameras stopping the nonsensical morons who will still try and speed and cause the many stupid crashes on the motorway by their in and out weaving to gain 20 seconds.

Suppose some people will whine no matter what progress there is

SoupyNorman · 21-09-2017 2:36pm

CeilingFly wrote: »

Suppose some people will whine no matter what progress there is

Same people screaming out the other sides of their mouths for a the road to be upgraded.

In fairness, the motorway road contractors in this country are almost always on time or early with project completions.

Middle Man · 21-09-2017 2:56pm

screamer wrote: »

Yep, three years of chaos, I'm sure that the daily commuters cannot wait for that to add to their daily commute. Ridiculous.

It shouldn't IMO take so long to add two lanes, but it will be better in the end. We had annoying restrictions on the M1 (Airport to Lissenhall section), but we're now enjoying the finished product which makes a big difference all day - the Lissenhall Junction itself is a huge improvement on its former layout. The M7 upgrade might not make much difference for the morning rush, but it will make quite a difference for other times.

NedNew2 · 21-09-2017 3:53pm

More info:

https://www.kildarenow.com/news/contract-signed-widen-m7-long-suffering-commuters/185808

marno21 · 21-09-2017 7:01pm

This will be brilliant for anyone leaving Dublin city in the evenings, using the M7 at peak times outbound, anyone from Sallins or Newbridge, anyone who works at Millenium Park, and anyone who lives around Naas.

For those asking above; a simple 14km road widening could be done in a year, but this is more than that. There's so many components.

1. Widening between J9 and J11
2. Demolition of the existing overbridge at Osberstown and the construction of a new bridge.
3. Closure of the existing slips at J10 and the construction of a new interchange onto the R445
4. Construction of the Sallins bypass and connecting it to J9A.

There are so many small components to this scheme and all will have to be done across, on, or near a motorway carrying 75,000 vehicles daily. It's no easy task and the reason that it'll take so long is that it'll be done within the restriction of keeping the motorway open with 2 lane running from 6am-10pm daily.

There will be closures outside of these times, either lane closures, carriageway closures or closures of the entire motorway.

Delighted to see it start. This is the first major scheme to start, beside the 3 PPPs whose starts were delayed by a few years, since the Ballaghaderreen bypass back in 2012.

gilly0512 · 21-09-2017 11:30pm

Be well and win wrote: »

Gardaí car was parked at j6 northbound this morning and the guard was standing next to it so everyone was slowing down to see what was happening, which was absolutely nothing, no crash or anything. Wondering if he was watching for someone specific

Personally, I think one of the biggest causes of delays is people nipping up the exit ramps and coming down the other side to save themselves a minute or so, I see it every night on the way home, especially at the big ball which means loads more cars merging which means the traffic slows down even more. It's a viscious circle

I saw that this morning, and you'd honestly despair over the absolute stupidity if not unbelievable nosiness of drivers in this country. We always were an incredibly nosy lot in this country, but hard to believe that it's now causing huge tailbacks on our main motorways.

GhostyMcGhost · 21-09-2017 11:33pm

gilly2308 wrote: »

I saw that this morning, and you'd honestly despair over the absolute stupidity if not unbelievable nosiness of drivers in this country. We always were an incredibly nosy lot in this country, but hard to believe that it's now causing huge tailbacks on our main motorways.

Ah stop, someone from Mrs Browns boys walking inbound on N7 few weeks back. Where was traffic backed up?.... Only outbound

Once I passed the convoy on the opposite side of the road it was like the parting of the heavens

BuzzFish · 22-09-2017 8:31am

marno21 wrote: »

This will be brilliant for anyone leaving Dublin city in the evenings, using the M7 at peak times outbound, anyone from Sallins or Newbridge, anyone who works at Millenium Park, and anyone who lives around Naas.

For those asking above; a simple 14km road widening could be done in a year, but this is more than that. There's so many components.

1. Widening between J9 and J11
2. Demolition of the existing overbridge at Osberstown and the construction of a new bridge.
3. Closure of the existing slips at J10 and the construction of a new interchange onto the R445
4. Construction of the Sallins bypass and connecting it to J9A.

There are so many small components to this scheme and all will have to be done across, on, or near a motorway carrying 75,000 vehicles daily. It's no easy task and the reason that it'll take so long is that it'll be done within the restriction of keeping the motorway open with 2 lane running from 6am-10pm daily.

There will be closures outside of these times, either lane closures, carriageway closures or closures of the entire motorway.

Delighted to see it start. This is the first major scheme to start, beside the 3 PPPs whose starts were delayed by a few years, since the Ballaghaderreen bypass back in 2012.

5. New underpass to run under railway link on Sallins side of the motorway.
https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicTenders/ViewNotice/189244
Serious enough piece of work to complete in 84 hours!! "A full railway shutdown for 84-hours over the Easter period 2018 will be in place to facilitate installation of the bridge units and wingwall units"

spacetweek · 23-09-2017 10:24am

rameire wrote: »

News on RTE and kfmradio saying M7 contracts have been signed.

Contracts signed with SIAC/Colas JV.

construction to start nearly straight Away.

Total project to be completed by Early 2020.
3 lanes from jn9 to jn11 NB and SB to be completed in Autumn 2019.

A few posters have been saying that work is to start immediately or nearly so but none of the articles I've seen have mentioned this.

Can I get confirmation?

Or is there any movement at the site?

sdanseo · 23-09-2017 6:43pm

spacetweek wrote: »

A few posters have been saying that work is to start immediately or nearly so but none of the articles I've seen have mentioned this.

Can I get confirmation?

Or is there any movement at the site?

Nothing happening when I passed yesterday anyway.

A couple of TII vans were parked on the hard shoulder SB last week in but gone the same day, more likely doing some maintenance, and there are a couple of what look like frames for speed limit signs dotted about..but they've been there since a couple of weeks ago.

M7 - Naas/Newbridge Bypass Upgrade [Junction 9a now open]

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