N6 Dual Carriageway to Athlone opening dates?

Golden Horde

Does anyone know the real expected completion dates for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the scheme to Athlone....?

I know Phase 1(which partially opened before Christmas to just short of Tyrellspass) is down for a Q4 2007 completion and Phase 2 as far as Athlone is officially down for Q4 2008.

I was wondering if anyone knew when they might realistically open, as these dates usually build in delay times....

malachy47

They seem to be making great progress as seen from the Athlone bypass. There must be financial incentives for Ascom to do it before the deadline. Would be great to see it co-incide with the new town centre development, but that's a push!

Best guess would be Q4 2007, at the earliest! they haven't even started the bridges yet.

Occidental

Last I heard was the Kilbeggan stretch by summer and a possible opening to Athlone by Christmas.

AM

The bridge work at Farnagh is reported on aaroadwatch.ie to be finished by October 07, although they claimed August 07 last month.

If the other interchanges can be completed by then, I suppose it might be possible to complete the road by the end of the year. After recently moving to Moate, I'd gladly welcome the new DC.

Realistically, I'd guess this time next year before it's completed.

impr0v

The remainder of phase one (to Kilbeggan) is scheduled for opening in May of this year, though may be slightly ahead. Phase 2, from Kilbeggan to Athlone is programmed for completion in late July 2008, though there is an expectation of a slight delay with this section.

malachy47

It seems Improv's info is right on the mark. The local press is touting its opening for end of next month.

patrickc

drove by the moate/athlone bit today, looks ready to open all signs up, finishing touches been done, maybe it'll lie ready to open like the carlow one for ages

de breeze

I was told by NRA the plan is to have it open in time for for Galway races. Seriously.

27th July it then

Chris_533976

Good idea actually, those races generate an absurd amount of traffic. I've seen 5 mile jamups on the N18 (and not caused by town bottlenecks either) during race week.

Good long thread in infrasture on guessing the opening day http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055146978

patrickc

de breeze wrote: »

I was told by NRA the plan is to have it open in time for for Galway races. Seriously.

like the naas lane carriageway for the ryder cup so

Sponge Bob

Athlone - Kilbeggan Opening Tomorrow 16th at lunchtime

Bye Bye Moate !!!!

GerardKeating

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Athlone - Kilbeggan Opening Tomorrow 16th at lunchtime

Bye Bye Moate !!!!

I see a few adverts in the Irish Times today, for hotels etc in the Athlone area mention that they get 45 minutes closer to Dublin after tomorrow.

veryangryman

This is absurd. Even if you did an average of 100KMPH to Dublin (allowing for the stop at the toll in an otherwise 120KMPH journey), youd still only be around Lucan area in the space of an hour.

I think that, at a stretch, it might save 20 minutes on a Friday. Still better to have those 20 minutes doing fun things than being in Moate :pac:

GerardKeating

veryangryman wrote: »

This is absurd. Even if you did an average of 100KMPH to Dublin (allowing for the stop at the toll in an otherwise 120KMPH journey), youd still only be around Lucan area in the space of an hour.

I think that, at a stretch, it might save 20 minutes on a Friday. Still better to have those 20 minutes doing fun things than being in Moate :pac:

Well, the AA site and RTÉ both mention the 45 minutes of time saved ("at peak times")...

veryangryman

Anyone can say anything without it necessarily being true.

Does anyone who does the Athlone to Kilbeggan journey actually think it could conceivably save that much time? Coupled in with the existing bypasses from Kilbeggan to Kilcock, yes. But not on its own.

The writer of that AA section is an idiot, im sorry to say

gerbilgranny

I'm a jammy beggar, all the same.

Put the daughter on the Galway train this morning, for her 3-week stint in Irish college, and I'll be travelling down to visit in 10 days time.

So I'm very pleased with the timely opening of this stretch of road.

Thanks be to God!

Ham'nd'egger

veryangryman wrote: »

Anyone can say anything without it necessarily being true.

Does anyone who does the Athlone to Kilbeggan journey actually think it could conceivably save that much time? Coupled in with the existing bypasses from Kilbeggan to Kilcock, yes. But not on its own.

The writer of that AA section is an idiot, im sorry to say

I don't travel this road often but the last few occasions that I did, it has taken me about 15-20 minutes just to get through Moate; this would be not the peak 4-6PM or Friday crunch times that I would travel. It also cuts out Kilbeggan and some of the crawling towards the Athlone by pass roundabout which are both snarls at the best of times so I'd well believe the 45 minute cull in journey times stated.

kaizersoze

Bit early to get excited about saving time on the Dublin to Galway run.
Ballinasloe wil soon replace Moate as the bottleneck I'm sorry to say.:(

transylman

kaizersoze wrote: »

Bit early to get excited about saving time on the Dublin to Galway run.
Ballinasloe wil soon replace Moate as the bottleneck I'm sorry to say.:(

Makes no difference to me, I'll be turning off for Tuam at Athlone . Or at least I will be until the M17 is completed sometime around 2036. You're right though, Ballinasloe is going to be the only major bottleneck on the Dublin Galway road from now on so expect mile long tailbacks there almost all the time until the rest of this route is complete.

Anyone using the new road today let us know how you get on.

serfboard

veryangryman wrote: »

Does anyone who does the Athlone to Kilbeggan journey actually think it could conceivably save that much time? Coupled in with the existing bypasses from Kilbeggan to Kilcock, yes. But not on its own.

The writer of that AA section is an idiot, im sorry to say

It sounds like a press release from the NRA (although it's not on their website). (EDIT: It is on their website now). Remember, Kinnegad-Athlone was originally considered as one scheme with two phases and I think this is what it's referring to. Even still, 45 minutes does seem a lot.

prendy

i do this journey every week or so, and bypassing kilbeggan and moate will save at least 40 mins. especially on fridays and sunday's when traffic is alot heavier.

jank

So whats the completion times for the rest of the M/N6?

kaizersoze

jank wrote: »

So whats the completion times for the rest of the M/N6?

Athlone - Ballinasloe due for completion in 2009 and Ballinasloe - Galway is 2010.

jank

Is that so? Hmmm.... I remember a poll we had last year prediciting what inter urban would finish first. The N6 won but the N8 is making HUGE progess and could be all open at the end of next year.

It will be interesting what happens.

corktina

kaizersoze wrote: »

Bit early to get excited about saving time on the Dublin to Galway run.
Ballinasloe wil soon replace Moate as the bottleneck I'm sorry to say.:(

how can you think that? will there be more cars per hour passing througn Ballinasloe for some reason?


Surely the bottleneck at Ballinasloe would have to be smaller than that that was at Moate as some vehicles will have turned off between the two....(westbound) and it wont make any difference at all at Balinasloe (eastbound)

Idbatterim

45 mins would be a realisitc saving at peak time over the new 30 kms. the bottleneck will not be as bad in ballinasloe as it was in moate, as im sure quite a bit of traffic wont want to go as far as ballinasloe as mentioned above...

steyr fan

I don't care if it saves me 5 mins or 55 mins, as long as I can keep moving I'll be smiling:)

kaizersoze

corktina wrote: »

how can you think that? will there be more cars per hour passing througn Ballinasloe for some reason?


Surely the bottleneck at Ballinasloe would have to be smaller than that that was at Moate as some vehicles will have turned off between the two....(westbound) and it wont make any difference at all at Balinasloe (eastbound)

Westbound is going to be the problem. It's not that there will be more cars, it's the fact that they will now be arriving at the town faster and all together. The bottleneck in Moate helped Ballinasloe because it held up the traffic and released it slowly. This meant that it was more spread out as it got to Ballinasloe.
It has been discussed at local and Co.Council level and they realise that it's going to be a problem. They even approached the contractor doing the Ballinasloe to Galway leg. They wanted him to prioritise the section from the east of the town to the west of it, but it's not going to happen.
It'll really get bad when the Athlone to Ballinasloe leg is finished a year before the rest of it.