N9 Updates (Fingers Crossed this time!!)

road_high

Hey all, any one got any more info on what is going with this?

I was down in Knocktopher, Kilkenny the other day and was out the road to Callan (R something or other) and a mile outside the village big excavations are going on- without doubt this must the N9 finally proceeding!

Anyway, the signs up were for VJK Keeley ltd, and it turns out that is some archeological consultancy. But from what I could see there must have been more than archeology going on as there were huge (over tree high) mounds of earth being moved, like for an overpass.
Hopefully now this is actually construction of the road beginning down there.
It was scheduled for Sept/October, but maybe it is 'ahead of schedule' too!

Fool 5000

Ya ,its looks like a flyover/interchange all right .Look at this map of the Knocktopher/Waterford scheme.

http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/public_consultations/section_F_pc3.htm

You can see the interchange just to west of Knocktopher just where you described near the Callen road .Its looks like the interurbans are finally taking off :eek:

road_high

Fool 5000 wrote:

Ya ,its looks like a flyover/interchange all right .Look at this map of the Knocktopher/Waterford scheme.

http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/public_consultations/section_F_pc3.htm

You can see the interchange just to west of Knocktopher just where you described near the Callen road .Its looks like the interurbans are finally taking off :eek:

Cheers for that map link Fool 5000. It would make sense alright cos this is about where I saw the work going on the other day.
Don't know who the contractor is yet for this section. Good riddens to the old dangerous, bendy, narrow piece of sh1t that is the current N9/10.

spacetweek

mfitzy wrote:

Cheers for that map link Fool 5000. It would make sense alright cos this is about where I saw the work going on the other day.
Don't know who the contractor is yet for this section. Good riddens to the old dangerous, bendy, narrow piece of sh1t that is the current N9/10.

So it seems that work is taking place? But there's been no official announcement yet.

road_high

spacetweek wrote:

So it seems that work is taking place? But there's been no official announcement yet.

No, but the county council said it would start in Sept/October in personal correspondence. And the funding was allocated for this project so presumably it is proceeding at last. I reckon they want to get the grain harvest over with
, before real works begin as it cuts through a real farming area..

road_high

Emailed KK coco the other day and they replied with the following info update on the road scheme.Looking forward now to it finally getting under way:)
***************************************************
A chara,

The assessment of the tender submissions is nearing completion. We expect to award the contract by the end of September. We expect the contractor to mobilise and set up site offices before the end of the year. Because of environmental constraints we also expect fencing, site clearance and hedge removal to take place over the winter months with major construction starting next spring. The expected completion date is mid 2009.
****************************************************

Carlow county council updates on the project;
http://www.carlow.ie/services/roads/roadworksprogramme.htm
http://www.carlow.ie/services/roads/pressreleases.htm

road_high

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2594&ArticleID=1746128

300 landowners locked in negotiations over road
MORE than 300 landowners are locked in negotiations with council officials over compensation for their land as the government ploughs ahead with plans to build a major road which will cross the county.
The N9 is the single largest road project ever to be undertaken in the state and will stretch for 110 kilometres. The project will cost at least E600m. This estimated cost does not include the compensation for landowners for compulsory purchases. A full breakdown of the estimated costs will be published later this year after they have been assessed. They are expected to be substantially higher than first envisaged because of the huge hike in land prices in recent years.
Ongoing negotiations
The negotiations involve the purchase of land for the new highway which will run from Kilcullen in Co Kildare to Waterford.
"At the beginning there was some opposition but this has been resolved," said Mr Joe Gannon who is the project coordinator for road design with Kilkenny County Council and is overseeing part of the project. 'We are ready to drive on with the project. There are 300 landowners that we are in talks with on the stretch of road from Waterford to Powerstown. Hopefully the negotiations will be completed shortly and won't drag on," Mr Gannon added.
Work to date
Work on the dual carriageway which will run from Co Kildare to Waterford will be carried out in four stages. The first section of the project stretches from Prumplestown in Co Kildare to Powerstown in Co Carlow. Work started on this 17-kilometre stretch of road in May and to date there have been no delays.
Kilkenny stage
The second section stretches from Waterford to Knocktopher. Work on this stretch of road will start later this year. Mr Gannon outlined the timeframe for this stage of the project. "At the moment we are assessing a number of tenders and expect to reach a decision on that by the end of September. We hope to be on site by the end of the year and to have completed the work by mid 2009," he said.
A tender process for the third part of the project which deals with the road running from Powerstown to Kilcullen will start in September. A contractor is expected to be appointed in the Spring and the construction work is due to be finished by the end of 2010.
The N9 will skirt around Kilkenny City and there will be access to the city from the Danesfort Cross and at Dunbell. A road will also be built connecting the road from Dunbell to the Hebron Road. Mr Gannon also confirmed that the final plans include a link from the N9 to the Waterford bypass which means that people will no longer be forced to travel through Waterford to get out onto the Cork Road.
Archaelogical work is currently taking place in South Kilkenny and a number of interesting discoveries have been unearthed. A team of archaeologists will begin excavating at Powerstown later this month.
06 September 2006

spacetweek

mfitzy wrote:

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2594&ArticleID=1746128

Wonder what they're going to do with the N10? There's no need for it anymore since the new N9 will run quite close to Kilkenny.

nordydan

Seems like an awful waste of a good number to have the N10 running for just a few miles. However it makes sense to maintain the general integrity of the numbering system. At least they had the foresight to put in a proper dumbell junction.

road_high

spacetweek wrote:

Wonder what they're going to do with the N10? There's no need for it anymore since the new N9 will run quite close to Kilkenny.

Think it will remain as the new road will link with it at Danesfort (current N10 Waterford- Kilkenny road), and the Kilkenny ring road will still use the number.

Also the link road (high quality two lane) from Kilkenny to Dunbell interchenge will most likey be N10 also ( I would imagine anyway). The current N10 Kilkenny-Paulstown will most likely be redesignated as an R road, same as elsewhere even though it is of an ok standard.

Victor

Oddly, I saw something recently and saw that the N10 had been excluded. It struck me as odd.

spacetweek wrote:

Wonder what they're going to do with the N10? There's no need for it anymore since the new N9 will run quite close to Kilkenny.

I was looking at a map recently and wondered why they didn't run the N10 Paulstown-Clonmel (the current N10-N76 alignment). Knocktopher-Kilkenny could have been an extended N77.