[PR] Cullen turns sod on N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Project

Victor

Of course the road stops at the [strike]Cork-Tipperary[/strike] Cork-Limerick border and goes nowhere near Mitchelstown.

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=7577&lang=ENG&loc=1887

Cullen turns sod on N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Project
22 May 2006
"First Early Contractor Involvement type National Road Project"

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D. travelled to Tipperary today (Monday, 22nd May 2006) where he turned the sod on the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Project. Stretching some 37kms in length, the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown project forms part of the South West Corridor that links Limerick and Cork and Dublin. It is due to be completed in May 2009.

This national road project is the first "Early Contractor Involvement" (ECI) type contract which aims to further improve on the delivery of the national roads programme. "It takes the now familiar "Design-Build" form of contract which is delivering national road projects on time and within budget, a step further", said the Minister.

The first phase of the project commences at the southern end of the Cashel Bypass and will run to Carrigane in County Cork. It also includes a section of the N24 Cahir / Rathkeevin road improvement scheme between Cloughabreeda and Knockagh. When complete, the project will comprise dual carriageway and motorway.

Speaking at the sod turning event today, Minister Cullen described the project as "one of strategic importance under the Government's Transport 21 plan." Roadbridge/Sisk Joint Venture who have the contract, have completed a preliminary design and prepared an Environmental Impact Statement along with the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) papers.

The 'Early Contractor Involvement' aims to reduce the risks involved with a project by harnessing the experience of both the contractors and the client. Having the contractors in place at an early stage has the benefit of their experience in construction methods and provides more scope for innovation, improve risk management, augment forward planning and resource requirements. It also allows the contractors to understand and be party to delivering the environmental and other commitments given during the roll-out of the project. In essence, ECI seeks to reduce the risks involved within a project and to pre-plan from an early stage.

Minister Cullen said many people would gain from the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Project. "Together with other improvements for a new N8 / M8 this project will benefit many road users. As the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown forms part of the South West Corridor that links Limerick and Cork and Dublin, it will benefit commercial and tourism sectors as well as cutting travelling times and reducing congestion. In addition, it will reduce traffic volumes going through local villages, giving the villages back to their people and improving road safety."

The Minister spoke of the high level of investment in our national road network scheme under Transport 21. "Transport 21 is a first for this country. Never before had there been a ten-year funding plan for capital investment in transport infrastructure. Investing €34 billion for the next ten years is a clear recognition on the part of this Government that strong and effective transport links are essential to the continuing success this country is achieving. Projects such as the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown play a key role in protecting and growing job opportunities as well as protecting and connecting community life throughout all parts of our country", he said.

Mr Peter Malone, Chairman of the National Roads Authority said: "As the National Roads Authority traverses the country building new motorways these national road projects benefit regional and economic growth and in turn our national economy. The 37km N8 Cashel/Mitchelstown scheme, on which works gets underway today, will impact positively on the strategic South West Corridor when it opens in 2009. This project will not only benefit South County Tipperary, Cork and Limerick but will also help connect two major cities Cork and Dublin and the NRA is on schedule to deliver the longest inter-urban link the Cork /Dublin route by 2010. This will enhance commercial and tourist business opportunities along the route while at the same time providing a healthier and safer environment for bypassed villages and safer a road for motorists.

Developing Ireland's road infrastructure to a world-class network is a huge task and one that is being addressed by the Government's Transport 21 Plan. The N8 Cashel Mitchelstown scheme demonstrates the massive scale of the projects contained in the €16bn 10 year plan and the NRA will continue to work hard with the local authorities to ensure its successful delivery."

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=7578&lang=ENG&loc=1081

Speech By Mr. Martin Cullen T.D. Minister for Transport at the Sod-turning of the N8 Cashel-Mitchelstown Road Project
22 May 2006

Introduction

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I am very pleased to be here today to turn the sod on the N8 Cashel - Mitchelstown Road Project which marks yet another milestone in bringing our national roads infrastructure into the 21st century and in upgrading, in particular, a key route - the N8 serving Dublin to Cork. Journey times between Dublin and Cork and Limerick have been reduced significantly with the elimination of bottlenecks such as Kildare, Monasterevin and Cashel and the construction of this 37km project will further consolidate and extend the benefits of these projects.

Project

The project forms part of the South West Corridor that links Limerick and Cork and Dublin. It will deliver significant benefits in terms of improvements in road safety. The alleviation of traffic congestion through local villages such as Kilbehenny, Skeheenarinky and New Inn will be welcomed by residents and businesses alike. Improvements to our national road infrastructure - with projects such as this one also benefit industry in terms of letting business do business, making it easier for companies to transport their goods and services with greater certainty.

Transport 21

That certainty can be attributed in no small way to Transport 21. Many of you here today may think that Transport 21 is concentrating on Dublin and its environs. Transport 21 is for every region in Ireland. Not just the road users will benefit. Communities will benefit. Regions will benefit. The goal of Transport 21 is to provide Ireland with a first class transport system that, on a national level, connects all regions to each other and to our main seaports and airports, and, in the cities, will provide greatly enhanced public transport alternatives to the private car.

Over the next 10 years the Government will spend through Transport 21 an average of over €9.4 million per day on our transport infrastructure. Building on the good work done in upgrading our transport infrastructure in recent years, Transport 21 represents an intensification and strengthening of the Government's commitment to ensuring that Ireland has a transport network to match and support its buoyant economy. The objective of Transport 21 is nothing less than a transformation of Ireland's transport network.

The rapid changes that have been taking place in Ireland in recent years have been clear for all to see. As we have advanced greatly as a country, but with these advancements have come additional needs. For example, while the population of much of Western Europe is static or declining, our population has increased to over four million. Much of that population growth has taken place in the urban hinterlands around our cities, leading to longer distance commuting and a reliance on car based transport. Employment has grown too.

This is wonderful for our economy but from a transport perspective, it means added needs and pressures. Look at car ownership figures car ownership has increased by approximately 50% between 1991 and 2003. The tonnage of goods transported nationally by road has increased from 85 million tonnes in 1994 to 283 million tones in 2004.

All of these trends translate into more people on our public transport systems, more private cars on our road and more trucks and commercial vehicles on our roads. These trends are to be welcomed. They are signs of our growing prosperity. However, they place significant impact on our transport infrastructure. We must let business do business, to protect and grow what we've achieved over the past ten years.

Transport 21 provides the level of investment necessary to develop a truly integrated National transport network. Crucially, it is about the way in which projects are integrated. It is built around two key strategies, in essence a Greater Dublin Strategy and a National Strategy.

The National Strategy involves the development of a high quality road network and the enhancement and development of public transport. It will mean that people can save up to an hour in journey times by car between cities, trains every two hours or less on the most modern rail fleet in Europe, new commuter rail services in the regions and a new road connecting the entire Atlantic Corridor.

National Roads Programme

The good progress being made in upgrading national roads is being reflected around the country. This year, work is continuing on 22 projects throughout the country, including the N5 Charlestown Bypass, N8 Fermoy Bypass, N11 Arklow/Gorey Bypass, and N18 Ennis Bypass. Another 11 projects are due for completion this year, for example, the N8/73 Mitchelstown Relief Road and N21 Castleisland/Abbeyfeale. Fourteen major projects are due to start this year they include the N6 Kinnegad/Athlone Phase 2, the N7 Nenagh to Limerick and the N8 Cullahill to Cashel.

The project that I turned the sod on today, - the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Project is one of strategic importance under the Government's Transport 21 plan. It is the first "Early Contactor Involvement" (ECI) type contract which aims to further improve on the delivery of the national roads programme. It takes the now familiar "Design-Build" form of contract which is delivering national road projects on time and within budget, a step further. The benefits of this have been an input to design, more time for planning and programming the construction works, better quality and value for money and better risk management.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all involved with this project including Tipperary South County Council, the National Roads Authority

the land owners and others who have cooperated in getting the project to this stage, Roadbridge/Sisk J.V. who have been successful in securing the contract and wish them and their workforce well in their efforts to complete the project on time and within budget; indeed, everyone involved in getting the project to this stage.

I wish you and all who will be working on the site success with the project.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to ask all of you here today to take care on our roads. All I'm asking you is to obey the speed limits, ensure that you and others travelling with you wear your seat belts and never ever drink and drive. You will be making our roads safer and saving lives.

Thank you.

http://www.phmcc.com/N8EIS/N8_EIS.htm
http://www.phmcc.com/n8newsletter/n8_newsletters.htm

popebenny16

Can anyone tell me how long the Fermoy by-pass has been going on? Seems like years.

Chris_533976

I presume this will all tie in with the Fermoy bypass eventually and the rest of the upgrades.

Interesting that they say Motorway though, as well as DC.

loyatemu

he turns the first sod, he shows up to cut the ribbon - if it wasn't for pioneering engineer-politicians like him no roads would ever get built!

impr0v

Chris_533976 wrote:

I presume this will all tie in with the Fermoy bypass eventually and the rest of the upgrades.

There's another 22km of high-quality dual carraigeway to go between Mitchelstown and Fermoy. There was an Oral Hearing held in January, so it will be a bit behind.

nordydan

Chris_533976 wrote:

I presume this will all tie in with the Fermoy bypass eventually and the rest of the upgrades.

Interesting that they say Motorway though, as well as DC.

Seems to me like an indication that the road will be upgraded to motorway upon completion of the route. But dont tell the farmers!

Fool 5000

Of caourse the road stops at the Cork-Tipperary border and goes nowhere near Mitchelstown.

I think that was done to cut the bend in the road before Mitchelstown.

MAP OF SCHEME!
http://www.phmcc.com/n8newsletter/Newsletter2.pdf

Chris_533976

Actually Id be interested to see which they do in the end.

1) Remove the roundabouts at either end of the Cashel bypass, build offramps and flyovers for them and create a nice freeflowing system.

2) Leave the roundabouts in and create a potential bottleneck and ruin the idea of continuous Cork-Dublin DC.

nordydan

Chris_533976 wrote:

Actually Id be interested to see which they do in the end.

1) Remove the roundabouts at either end of the Cashel bypass, build offramps and flyovers for them and create a nice freeflowing system.

2) Leave the roundabouts in and create a potential bottleneck and ruin the idea of continuous Cork-Dublin DC.

I think the current roundabouts wher a stopgap option, they will be removed to create freeflow under the scheme. The map in the leaflet - if you zoom in enough - shows a freeflow N8.

Chris_533976

Oh yeah they were definately a stopgap thing

All I'm interested in is will Ireland spend the little bit of extra money to do it properly, or do a half arsed job like we've done so many times in the past

Fool 5000

Can anyone tell me how long the Fermoy by-pass has been going on? Seems like years

Yeah it feels like it has been ages but it commenced in June 2004 and it will be finished in September.

mike65

Slightly confused about the 'proposed' N24 Cahir bypass as the initial works have already begun! Marked with red circle.

Mike.

nordydan

Its a pity the rest of the N24 aint being upgraded soon, its all due for 2+1 at some stage.

jank

I think the mitchelstown bypass is going to be starting next january or so.

IMO the most important part of the whole project is the Cullahill - Portloaise part.

If they can get that started then I think the Cork - Dublin road will actually seem like its going somewhere

On a side note the Kinsale road flyover is ment to be finishing in October or there abouts, 5 months ahead of schedule.

The Fermoy bypass will be finished soon aswell about a year ahead of schedule
Seems to be the norm for major road building in munster to come in on budget and early. If they can just speed up the planning of it it would be a great help.

Id expect this road to come in early maybe late/middle 2008

nordydan

Am I right in thinking that just the fermoy bypass will be M8 south of urlingford or is there any scope to include all or part of the mitchelstown bypass as motorway as well? A patchwork of roads would be a shambles.

अधिनायक

Does anyone know how the schedule is now looking for Cork-Dublin dual carriageway compared to this document?
http://www.nra.ie/News/DownloadableDocumentation/d1532.PDF

The aim was completion by 2010. The M50 upgrade would be finished by then allowing greater volumes of car traffic on the Cork-Dublin route. Meanwhile the interconnector will not be finished before 2015 at which point rail travel to Cork will become more viable.

Victor

nordydan wrote:

Am I right in thinking that just the fermoy bypass will be M8 south of urlingford or is there any scope to include all or part of the mitchelstown bypass as motorway as well? A patchwork of roads would be a shambles.

The Fermoy Bypass will be the only Motorway outside Leinster (& Ulster )

अधिनाय&#2325 wrote:

Does anyone know how the schedule is now looking for Cork-Dublin dual carriageway compared to this document?
http://www.nra.ie/News/DownloadableDocumentation/d1532.PDF The aim was completion by 2010.

It was meant to be complete this year - all 5 routes were meant to be completed in the NDP.

Fool 5000

Does anyone know how the schedule is now looking for Cork-Dublin dual carriageway compared to this document?
http://www.nra.ie/News/DownloadableD...tion/d1532.PDF

I think its more like this because I got this from the NRA a few weeks ago

Programme Division

N8 Cullahill/Cashel
The development of the Dublin to Cork inter-urban road link to motorway/high
quality dual carriageway standard forms part of the Government's strategy for
national primary roads included in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2000-2006 published in November 1999. Consultants (Malone O'Regan/Scott/Wilson) were appointed to advance the scheme in the summer of 2000. The Constraints Study was published in January 2001. The Preferred Route was displayed in mid July 2001 and the Route Selection Report was published at the end of 2001. . The CPO/EIS for the scheme was published on 7th April 2004 and an Oral Hearing was held by
An Bord Pleanála at the beginning of September 2004. The scheme was approved by
An Bord Pleanala on 23rd December 2004. It is anticipated that construction will
commence in Q3/2006 and be completed in 2009.

M7/M8-Portlaoise/Castletown/Portlaoise - Cullahill (including Mountrath Bypass)
Proposals for the above scheme are progressing through the planning stage. The scope of the scheme is from Portlaoise Bypass to Castletown on the N7 and Cullahill on the N8.
Ove Arup consultants were appointed at the end of 1999. Following publication of the Constraints Study, work progressed through the Route Selection Phase with the Route Selection Report being published towards the end of 2001. The Motorway Order/Environmental Impact Statement were published in December 2003 and an Oral Hearing held by An Bord Pleanála in April 2004. An Bord Pleanála
confirmed the scheme on 29th October 2004. Tenders were advertised in Q3/2005.
The scheme is being advanced as a Public Private Partnership PPP project. The scheme length is 40km and the estimated cost is EUR254.574 million (public
funding). The PPP pre-qualification process has recently begun and the
estimated start dated for construction is Q1/2007 with an estimated completion
time of over 3years.

N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown
The Constraints Study and Route Selection reports for this 37km scheme were
published in 2001. The CPO/EIS was published in Q2, 2005 (19th May 2005) and the Oral Hearing was held by An Bord Pleanála at the end of August last. It was approved by An Bord Pleanala on 2nd December 2005. The scheme is being advanced under the ECI (Early Contractor Involvement) Form of Contract, which was
advertised in Q1/2004. The Authority has approved the award of the contract to Sisk/Roadbridge (SRB) Joint Venture and work is currently underway on the
detailed design of the scheme. It is anticipated that construction will
commence in Q2, 2006.

N8 Watergrasshill - Mitchelstown
2006 allocations are EUR7 million for Watergrasshill - Fermoy, EUR7.5 million
for the Mitchelstown Western Relief Road and EUR1.5 million Mitchelstown -
Fermoy.

Phase 1 Fermoy to Watergrasshill (including Fermoy Bypass)
PCP Consultants were appointed to this scheme in late 1999. The EIS / MO for Phase 1 was published by Cork County Council in July 2001. The Oral Hearing was held by ABP on 6th November 2001 and reopened on 24th September 2002 to deal with issues relating to the Central Interchange. The EIS / MO was confirmed by ABP on December 30th 2002 with the exclusion of the Central Interchange (on the N72). Phase 1 is being advanced as a Public Private Partnership project (PPP)
and the tender was advertised in April 2002. Tenders were submitted for
shortlisting on December 13th 2002 and Best and Final Offers (BAFOs) received in November 2003. The PPP Contract was signed on 21st June 2004. Construction began immediately and is well under way at present.

Phase 2 Mitchelstown to Fermoy (including N8/N73 Mitchelstown Western Relief
Road)
Work is also progressing on Phase 2. The Preferred Route option has been
finalised and the CPO / EIS for the main N8 route was published in early
September 2005. Construction is expected to start in Q2, 2007 and to be
completed in 2009. The CPO for the Western Relief Road was published in Q4/2003 and an Oral Hearing held by ABP on 29th April 2004. It was approved by An Bord Pleanála on 21st June 2004. Tenders were submitted on December 17th 2004 and construction began in Q2/2005 with an 18 month completion period. The contractor is Roadbridge Ltd. The contract is currently running ahead of schedule.

jank

So the last part of the road to start is the Mitchelstown bypass. Other then that it looks like the rest of it is going to be either completed or under construction as from Q1/2007

About time they actually got the finger out

Bards

jank wrote:

I think the mitchelstown bypass is going to be starting next january or so.

IMO the most important part of the whole project is the Cullahill - Portloaise part.

If they can get that started then I think the Cork - Dublin road will actually seem like its going somewhere

On a side note the Kinsale road flyover is ment to be finishing in October or there abouts, 5 months ahead of schedule.

The Fermoy bypass will be finished soon aswell about a year ahead of schedule
Seems to be the norm for major road building in munster to come in on budget and early. If they can just speed up the planning of it it would be a great help.

Id expect this road to come in early maybe late/middle 2008

Mitchelstown Bypass/relief road is under construction at the moment. .. Travelled to Mitchelstown last week on N8 and then to Charleville via Kildorery and you can see where the bypass crosses the mallow road. Shouldn't be too long before it is finished

Aidan1

Bards, you're confusing two separate projects.

The relief road will only carry national traffic for a few years, and will revert to being a local releif road after that point. Jank is referring to the section of the N/M8 that will link the Fermoy 'bypass' M8 motorway and the Mitchelstown to Cashel section that was formally started recently.

road_high

Yes the relief road is merely a 'stop-gap' measure until the whole N/M 8 is completed- i think its like the Loughrea bypass which opened recently enough as a two-lane road and will eventually be replaced by the new N6 d-way.
It must be nearly ready at this stage- they've been at long enough it seems.

murphaph

To be fair, the Mtchelstown Relief Road will be more use than the Loughrea Bypass when it's also bypassed. The reason being that other national routes feed into the west of Mitchelstown and ths road allows them to bypass the town centre.

mysterious

murphaph wrote:

To be fair, the Mtchelstown Relief Road will be more use than the Loughrea Bypass when it's also bypassed. The reason being that other national routes feed into the west of Mitchelstown and ths road allows them to bypass the town centre.

I dissagree, because Loughrea also has other National routes feeding into it Such as N66 and N65 not to mention the new spur of the new N6, bothe of these route add to the current traffic west of Loughrea.

Also Loughrea is a faster growing town..

road_high

mysterious wrote:

I dissagree, because Loughrea also has other National routes feeding into it Such as N66 and N65 not to mention the new spur of the new N6, bothe of these route add to the current traffic west of Loughrea.

Also Loughrea is a faster growing town..

I kinda think theyre both a waste of money really..They should have just fast tracked both dual carriageways (ie do a phase as bypass of each town that would be part of the NDP N6/8 schemes)- seems like lack of foresight to me like so many infrastructural projects in Ireland
Although they will still be useful I suppose to traffic on the N secondary roads you've both mentioned so maybe i'm wrong.

murphaph

mysterious wrote:

I dissagree, because Loughrea also has other National routes feeding into it Such as N66 and N65 not to mention the new spur of the new N6, bothe of these route add to the current traffic west of Loughrea.

Also Loughrea is a faster growing town..

But the Loughrea bypass is on the same side of the town as the 'M'6 will be, so M6 bound traffic heading north will still have to pass through Loughrea, whereas the M'town relief road is west of the town and the 'M'8 will be east of the town, forming a mini orbital so west-east bound traffic can avoid the town centre.

mysterious

mfitzy wrote:

I kinda think theyre both a waste of money really..They should have just fast tracked both dual carriageways (ie do a phase as bypass of each town that would be part of the NDP N6/8 schemes)- seems like lack of foresight to me like so many infrastructural projects in Ireland
Although they will still be useful I suppose to traffic on the N secondary roads you've both mentioned so maybe i'm wrong.

well defo, there are more important projects to get done...


NRA want to fill the news gaps with pie arsed schemes to avoid attention to the delays of the existing motorway network plan which will not finish in 2010,

I mean just out of question it's half way through 2006 and the Portlaoise Castletown scheme is not going to start anytime soon, why is it still delayed? this is the most chronically conjested section of route of either N7/N8.

Crap I'm now after opening a can of worms, everyone must think all the motorways will be finished in 2010..oops:eek:

mysterious

murphaph wrote:

But the Loughrea bypass is on the same side of the town as the 'M'6 will be, so M6 bound traffic heading north will still have to pass through Loughrea, whereas the M'town relief road is west of the town and the 'M'8 will be east of the town, forming a mini orbital so west-east bound traffic can avoid the town centre.

Seriously I could explain a bit more logic here, but first that is waffle, it does not make a pile of difference as to which side it's on as long as it defeats the purpose of traffic going through the T.C, but I see your point as it would make more sense to have it on the opposite side of the new route, But it's a totally assed comparison to Loughrea though.

Let's straighten it out a little

Loughrea is built adjacent to A LAKE (south of the town so no point in building the bypass there) so the town is linear and all roads meet at either points of the N6, so it doesn't make a pile of difference, all traffic going through will be bypassed efficiently as all routes including N66 will have accessed to the Bypass... there's is no point in making a comparison to Mitchelltown, as the aspect is totally different.

As long as all routes have access to the bypass it does not matter which side of the town it's on...Fact

I think the planner got it right having the bypass at it's current location, plus N66 and N65 are also avoiding the Town centre, as for Mitchellstown it will just act a mini orbital as you just said

Chris_533976

To bump this

CPOs were in the papers today for the Fermoy to Mitchelstown section.

Fool 5000

My update on the N8
The M8 Fermoy bypass looks much closer to completion, however the tie-in to the dual-carrigeway at Watergrasshill is only just beginning, and will take a bit of work. The other junctions are complete, including the terminating roundabout north of Fermoy. This has been built sensibly with an overhead junction and slip roads, and the path of the motorway running about another 50 yards underneath, so that when the next sextion (Fermoy-Mitchelstown) is built, they will be no disruption to the current arrangment. The various toll plazas are complete, but need finishing and surfacing. Estimated opening date is September this year.

The relief road at Mitchelstown is progressing well, but the tie-ins to the N8 at either end still need substantial work. This road is just a normal two-way single road with roundabouts, and will only be the temporary bypass for Mitchelstown until the final section of the N8 is completed (the Fermoy-Mitchelstown dual-carrigeway will be the only part of the route not started construction by the end of this year).

Construction has started on the Mitchelstown to Cashel dual-carrigeway, completion date estimated 2009.

Construction on Cashel to Cullahill dual carrigeway will commence later this year, estimated completion 2009.

Portlaoise to Cullahill M8 (and M7) is through planning stage, tender to be awarded by end of year, construction commencing later this year or early next.

So with these projects, we will have motorway or high quality dual carrigeway from Newlands Cross to just before Mitchelstown, and then from just before Fermoy to Cork. Only Mitchelstown and the next few miles towards Fermoy will be missing, currently in planning, but probably not in construction till 2008, and opened by around 2011.

corktina

by the looks today the Mitchelstown road openig is imminenet.The northern end connection is done and the road now goes aroung the front of the Firgrove Hotel...I dont know what the south state of play is though....

Victor

Fool 5000 wrote:

Only Mitchelstown and the next few miles towards Fermoy will be missing, currently in planning, but probably not in construction till 2008, and opened by around 2011.

Cashel to Mitchelstown actually stops well short of Mitchelstown and the Fermoy Bypass only goes slightly further than Fermoy, so there will be a fair chunk to fill.