Airport Motorway

spacetweek · 25-07-2006 1:48pm #1

Does anyone know when the M1 Airport motorway opened in the 80's - the one from Coolock to the Airport?

I have searched in vain.

bringitdown · 25-07-2006 1:53pm

Used to be a plaque on it 1985 according to Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_road (box on the right hand side)

mackerski · 25-07-2006 8:18pm

It opened in two stages - from Coolock interchange southbound was the first, and the rest came later, certainly in and around the 1985 mark as suggested. Until the opening of the full route, the Whitehall to Coolock interchange section was signed as the N1 with normal green signage, a lot of which remained in place for a long time afterwards.

Dermot

Bluetonic · 26-07-2006 8:15am

mackerski wrote:

Until the opening of the full route, the Whitehall to Coolock interchange section was signed as the N1 with normal green signage, a lot of which remained in place for a long time afterwards.

Now it's turned the full circle as the Whitehall to the Coolock interchange is once again the N1.

Andrew Duffy · 26-07-2006 9:45am

So is the first section older than the Curragh dual carriageway? The reason I ask is that while the Naas and Santry bypasses were the first motorways to open as such, these two sections predate the motorways they are now part of. The Southbound carriageway of the M50 between the N81 and Scholarstown Road is also a lot older than then rest, but still 1990s as far as I can remember.

Bluetonic · 26-07-2006 9:59am

Andrew Duffy wrote:

So is the first section older than the Curragh dual carriageway?

The section from the Whitehall Church to the M1 Santry interchange is the oldest section, however it is nothing like its original design which was dual carriage way. It's now dual carriage way southbound and single carriage way northbound, 50km soutbound, 60 Km northbound limits. It went from national road (N1) to motorway M1, and it now back to national road (N1). The M1 now starts at East Wall Road (this is how the recently installed sings portray it). The N1 merges/splits with/from the M1 at the Coolock interchange.

Some people are of the impression that the Port Tunnel, now clearly marked M1, will be marked M50 once the Turnapin interchange has been upgraded to a free flowing one. This would make sense.

mackerski · 26-07-2006 10:34am

Andrew Duffy wrote:

So is the first section older than the Curragh dual carriageway? The reason I ask is that while the Naas and Santry bypasses were the first motorways to open as such, these two sections predate the motorways they are now part of.

The Naas Bypass was built and opened as motorway. The Curragh dual-carriageway was built as all-purpose and later integrated into the M7. The Naas-Newbridge DC is now probably the highest-spec R-road. I'm assuming it now carries an 80 limit.

Dermot

icdg · 26-07-2006 9:33pm

Bluetonic wrote:

The section from the Whitehall Church to the M1 Santry interchange is the oldest section, however it is nothing like its original design which was dual carriage way. It's now dual carriage way southbound and single carriage way northbound, 50km soutbound, 60 Km northbound limits. It went from national road (N1) to motorway M1, and it now back to national road (N1). The M1 now starts at East Wall Road (this is how the recently installed sings portray it). The N1 merges/splits with/from the M1 at the Coolock interchange.

Some people are of the impression that the Port Tunnel, now clearly marked M1, will be marked M50 once the Turnapin interchange has been upgraded to a free flowing one. This would make sense.

I can't comment on the northern end, having not travelled on the M1 between the city and the M50 in a while. However the signs erected at the East Point end of the Port Tunnel certainly have "M50" on them. There were even pronounments from Dublin City Council / NRA officials that the M1 south of the M50 interchange would become the M50. The Airport and Swords junctions on the M1 have been numbered J2 and J3 in recognition of this.

Also while when the M7 Naas Bypass and M1 Northern Motorway opened, the original routes continued to have their N1 and N7 designations, since the early 1990s the position has been that the motorways form part of the national route and the old route is detrunked and given an R number. That doesn't necessiraly stop two routes having the same number (for example all slip roads share the route number of the mainline) but is unlikely...

Victor · 26-07-2006 11:33pm

mackerski wrote:

The Naas-Newbridge DC is now probably the highest-spec R-road.

No, I think that goes to Wyattville Road / Cherrywood Road (I don't know the R number) in Dublin. It has an interchange with the N11 and another with the M50.

In Cork, the South City Link Road was built in a former railway cutting as a 2-lane dual-carriageway. Along it's short length it had one interchange (including a private residence on a two-way slip road), three over bridges and one pedestrian over bridge. At each end were traffic lights, one set used for the city dump. It is now part of the N27.

jd · 26-07-2006 11:40pm

Bluetonic wrote:

. It's now dual carriage way southbound and single carriage way northbound,

To be pedantic, dual carriageway is when lanes going in different directions are physically separated.

Bluetonic · 27-07-2006 8:06am

jd wrote:

To be pedantic

Why the need? I don't see how this adds any value to the thread.

Bluetonic · 27-07-2006 8:13am

icdg wrote:

I can't comment on the northern end, having not travelled on the M1 between the city and the M50 in a while. However the signs erected at the East Point end of the Port Tunnel certainly have "M50" on them. There were even pronounments from Dublin City Council / NRA officials that the M1 south of the M50 interchange would become the M50. The Airport and Swords junctions on the M1 have been numbered J2 and J3 in recognition of this.

I took a more detailed look this morning and there are three large sings from the Turnapin interchange to the Santry interchange, in effect the end of the m50 as it is now, to the beginning of the southbound portals of the port tunnel.

The first sign is just at the off slip ramp on the Turnapin interchange and is clearly marked straight ahead being m50 and left being Santry and Coolock. The next sign 100 meteres further down has m1 straight, and then a further sign has m50 (thrrough the tunnel) and N1 to the left. All these signs have been erected recently are not existing signs. Perhaps the ones displaying 'M50' should be covered until the tunnel opens and the 'M1' is all that should be on display.

Regardless of this....

Dublin Port Tunnel facing delay due to leaks
27/07/2006 - 07:58:04

The €800m Dublin Port Tunnel is reportedly facing an indefinite delay due to an endless series of leaks.

Earlier this year, the National Roads Authority insisted that the leaks were not a problem and would not delay the opening of the facility.

However, reports this morning say a team of workers is still battling to fix the problem and the opening of the tunnel had been put on hold indefinitely.

The project is already two years behind schedule and has missed at least four separate completion deadlines.

jd · 27-07-2006 8:22am

Bluetonic wrote:

Why the need? I don't see how this adds any value to the thread.

Ah, just for accuracy, some people misundertand what a dual carriage way is-ie that you don't need two lanes going in the same direction..

Bluetonic · 27-07-2006 9:00am

jd wrote:

Ah, just for accuracy, some people misundertand what a dual carriage way is-ie that you don't need two lanes going in the same direction..

I was in two minds what to call it really. I suppose it's just a simple single carriageway. As the central reservation is only a meter wide painted lines i think being pedantic is justified in this case!

Andrew Duffy · 27-07-2006 9:58am

mackerski wrote:

highest-spec R-road

Completely off-topic now, but the Malahide Road (R107), Ballymount Road (R108), Naas Road (R110), Long Mile Road (R110 too, according to the map) and Belgard Road (R113) all have significant dual-carriageway sections. There's a few dual carriageways linking motorway interchanges to towns too; the R449 links Intel near Leixlip to the M4 near Celbridge, for example.

mackerski · 27-07-2006 10:06am

The reason I singled out the Newbridge Road is that it is inter-urban and of reasonable length, with no major hazards that I can recall that would necessitate a low speed limit.

Dermot

murphaph · 27-07-2006 10:07am

Highest spec R road is probably the brand new Waterford Southern Ring Road, miles and miles of DC with crash barrier. Think it may be the R107.

Oherwise, don't forget the ORR between the N7 and Grangecastle in west Dublin, also DC with central reserve crash barrier.

spacetweek · 27-07-2006 11:31pm

murphaph wrote:

Highest spec R road is probably the brand new Waterford Southern Ring Road, miles and miles of DC with crash barrier. Think it may be the R107.

Oherwise, don't forget the ORR between the N7 and Grangecastle in west Dublin, also DC with central reserve crash barrier.

The Swords Bypass too.

There's actually loads of R-road dual carraigeway, created when N roads get replaced or in the middle of cities where an N designation wouldn't be appropriate.

Something I've always thought was stranger was the absence of any dual carriageway National Secondaries. The N81 Tallaght Bypass and possibly some of the N71 coming out of Cork are the only two examples I can think of.

murphaph · 28-07-2006 12:25am

spacetweek wrote:

Something I've always thought was stranger was the absence of any dual carriageway National Secondaries. The N81 Tallaght Bypass and possibly some of the N71 coming out of Cork are the only two examples I can think of.

N52 Dundalk->M1 link road is also DC from its junction with the R132

Bluetonic · 28-07-2006 8:32am

jd wrote:

To be pedantic, dual carriageway is when lanes going in different directions are physically separated.

On further thought part of that road is dual carriage way as it is seperated physically by the Port Tunnel portals for around 400 meters!

Andrew Duffy · 28-07-2006 10:37am

... like the N4 dual carraigeway from Heuston Station to O'Connell Bridge - the Liffey is in the central reservation.

mysterious · 28-07-2006 12:51pm

spacetweek wrote:

The Swords Bypass too.

There's actually loads of R-road dual carraigeway, created when N roads get replaced or in the middle of cities where an N designation wouldn't be appropriate.

Something I've always thought was stranger was the absence of any dual carriageway National Secondaries. The N81 Tallaght Bypass and possibly some of the N71 coming out of Cork are the only two examples I can think of.

Another big Regional road of DC standard is the Naas - Newbridge road, An old mate of mine (who older than me would have remembered the road much better than I would have, when driving on it before the M7 existed etc) He said When the M7 was under construction (M7-M9) in the early 90s just prior or just after the opening (can't remember which he said again)they widened the newbridge road to DC, which is now R445. Is this true, or was it DC before the M7 was built.

murphaph · 28-07-2006 11:52pm

mysterious wrote:

Another big Regional road of DC standard is the Naas - Newbridge road, An old mate of mine (who older than me would have remembered the road much better than I would have, when driving on it before the M7 existed etc) He said When the M7 was under construction (M7-M9) in the early 90s just prior or just after the opening (can't remember which he said again)they widened the newbridge road to DC, which is now R445. Is this true, or was it DC before the M7 was built.

My mother's from Newbridge so I can say with certainty that the old N7 was DC all the way to Newbridge long before the M7 Newbridge Bypass was built. I distinctly remember the M7 being extended from the Naas bypass in fact and the N7 was DC (low quality) waaaay before this. I am 27 and wuld have travelled to Newbridge every saturday as a kid from infancy. I can never remember the old N7 being anything other than DC. I presume it was dualled shortly after the M7 was built or maybe even before then.

Victor · 29-07-2006 12:10am

mysterious wrote:

Another big Regional road of DC standard is the Naas - Newbridge road, An old mate of mine (who older than me would have remembered the road much better than I would have, when driving on it before the M7 existed etc) He said When the M7 was under construction (M7-M9) in the early 90s just prior or just after the opening (can't remember which he said again)they widened the newbridge road to DC, which is now R445. Is this true, or was it DC before the M7 was built.

He may be referring to the section at the Curragh (Newbridge-Kildare, between the two horse bridges). I understand this was originally a 2 lane road, widened to DC and later incorporated into the motorway.

The Naas-Newbridge DC was built after the Naas Road DC and before the Naas Bypass.

Some related information http://www.nra.ie/News/DownloadableDocumentation/file,1204,en.PDF

Airport Motorway

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