Which interurban will win?

Chris_533976

Of the four major builds going on (Dublin - Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford), which do you think will be finished first??

Pointless poll, but it'll be interesting to see what people think.

Stark

N9: Dublin - Waterford

I voted for the wishful thinking option. I guess if I wanted to make an educated guess, I'd look up www.nra.ie

heyjude

It doesn't matter which one is finished first, so long as they are all finished within a reasonable time and to the original specification.

galwayrush

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Hope that the (expected) dry up of revenue for the Goverment dosen't slow them down any more.
Weren't they all promised to be finished by 2006?:eek:

Maskhadov

N7: Dublin - Limerick

i reckon galway but i dont know when..

BendiBus

None of them will ever be finished. The economy is collapsing. No more money for projects. We're all doomed. Doomed I tell ya

loyatemu

I vote M1

what do i win?

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

It's probably a no-no to bring serious consideration into this, but I'm suspicious about the Limerick and Cork prospects of being complete even before Waterford nevermind Galway.

Essentially due to two schemes that seem still to be on the drawing board (OK, going through statutory process):

N7 Castletown-Nenagh
N8 Mitchelstown-Fermoy

jank

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Actually any news yet on the Cullahil-Portlaosie Project yet. I heard a start date fro this summer but nothing since.

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Zoney wrote:

It's probably a no-no to bring serious consideration into this, but I'm suspicious about the Limerick and Cork prospects of being complete even before Waterford nevermind Galway.

Essentially due to two schemes that seem still to be on the drawing board (OK, going through statutory process):

N7 Castletown-Nenagh
N8 Mitchelstown-Fermoy

Yeah... they need to get going on them. Tho the N6 has the same 'statutory process' fartabout when it comes to the Ballinasloe - Athlone section.

Mayo Exile

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Originally posted by loyatemu: I vote M1

what do i win?

Ditto. M1 Dublin to Border should be finished in about 4 weeks.............

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Chris_533976 wrote:

Yeah... they need to get going on them. Tho the N6 has the same 'statutory process' fartabout when it comes to the Ballinasloe - Athlone section.

Ah - good point, I'd forgotten that. That'll be depressing if the first place to be fully connected to Dublin by motorway/DC is Waterford. It boggles the mind as to how things are organised (or not).

Bards

I refuse to vote because I firmly believe the WRC should be extended to Cape Clear instead

Zoney wrote:

Ah - good point, I'd forgotten that. That'll be depressing if the first place to be fully connected to Dublin by motorway/DC is Waterford. It boggles the mind as to how things are organised (or not).

we in the S.E will be pleasenlty surprised if Waterford gets connected first:Dand why will it be so depressing for you????

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Bards wrote:

we in the S.E will be pleasenlty surprised if Waterford gets connected first:Dand why will it be so depressing for you????

I for one think it's entirely justified as far as Kilkenny (i.e. the junction with new N10 link) for sure (that is backed up by current traffic volumes and year-on-year increase), and considering a new road build is needed south of that, and it's the smaller bit of the overall route, building DC seems reasonable strategically.

It is nevertheless most certainly leagues behind the other routes in terms of priority. It's not majorly depressing, just it wouldn't be exactly as it should be if the link to Waterford was finished before the others.

Bards

I refuse to vote because I firmly believe the WRC should be extended to Cape Clear instead

Zoney wrote:

I for one think it's entirely justified as far as Kilkenny (i.e. the junction with new N10 link) for sure (that is backed up by current traffic volumes and year-on-year increase), and considering a new road build is needed south of that, and it's the smaller bit of the overall route, building DC seems reasonable strategically.

It is nevertheless most certainly leagues behind the other routes in terms of priority. It's not majorly depressing, just it wouldn't be exactly as it should be if the link to Waterford was finished before the others.

you are all forgetting this road replaces both the N9 & the N10

Waterford to Knocktopher is well advanced as construction started in January of this year which is just over half way to Kilkenny and not one inch of the new road goes through Co. Waterford or City

Irish and Proud

N7: Dublin - Limerick

loyatemu wrote:

I vote M1

what do i win?

Good point mate! I'm an M1 local myself (just 2 miles from it), and yes, the M1 will be the winner - the Dundalk to Newry scheme should be finished this year - well ahead of any other inter-urban.

BTW, I voted for the N6 - there's motorway/HQDC type road all the way from Lucan to Kilbeggan. The HQDC will be extended to Athlone by next year, while the Ballinasloe to Galway toll section is now underway. Both the Galway Other Bypass and Athlone to Ballinasloe schemes are now at the CPO/EIS stage, while the Lucan Road upgrade gets underway later this year.

Cheers!

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

I didnt put the N/M1 in the poll BTW because as far as I'm concerned, it goes to Belfast, not the border. Road classifications aside and naming aside, thats where it goes, and theres still a section of S2 that wont be done until 2012

Edit: Plus I forgot to put it in the poll...

Mayo Exile

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Originally posted by Chris_533976: and theres still a section of S2 that wont be done until 2012

What road is this and where is it?

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Mayo Exile wrote:

What road is this and where is it?

S2 means "standard two lane carriageway" (i.e. normal single carriageway road) and Chris is referring to the A1 in Northern Ireland; the Newry bypass and north of the town.

Mayo Exile

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Originally posted by Zoney: S2 means "standard two lane carriageway" (i.e. normal single carriageway road) and Chris is referring to the A1 in Northern Ireland; the Newry bypass and north of the town.

Thanks for that Zoney! Didn't know what the term meant. The Newry bypass will be the last piece to be dualled on the Dublin-Belfast route when the Dundalk to Newry section is done.

Victor

N7: Dublin - Limerick

How about Drumcondra Road / Swords Road, when is that going to be dualled?

spacetweek

galwayrush wrote:

Hope that the (expected) dry up of revenue for the Goverment dosen't slow them down any more.
Weren't they all promised to be finished by 2006?:eek:

Yep, back in 1999. At the time, I naively actually believed it.

I voted "Who cares", but it's a close one to call. All 4 of those interurbans have at least 1 section which is still in planning. To be finished by 2010, they'd need to have all sections of all four underway by the end of 2008 at the latest.

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

spacetweek wrote:

All 4 of those interurbans have at least 1 section which is still in planning.

Nope - the N6, N7 and N8 are the ones with sections going through statutory process. The N9 sections that haven't started yet have gone/are going out to tender.

DerekP11

N7: Dublin - Limerick

I fancy the N6 to Galway/Dublin (depending on where you live of course).

Only one section on a go slow. Thats between Ballinasloe and Athlone. Every other section is on the move.

fricatus

Zoney wrote:

Nope - the N6, N7 and N8 are the ones with sections going through statutory process. The N9 sections that haven't started yet have gone/are going out to tender.

Why then do 47% of those responding to this poll say that the road from Dublin to Galway will be finished first, whereas only 4% say the same about the Dublin-Waterford interurban?

Are they answering the question of which one they hope will be finished first, rather than which one they think will be finished first.

DerekP11

N7: Dublin - Limerick

DerekP11 wrote:

I fancy the N6 to Galway/Dublin (depending on where you live of course).

Only one section on a go slow. Thats between Ballinasloe and Athlone. Every other section is on the move.

Looking at the roscommon coco website this section is designed to be constructed last as it ties in with the (completed) Ballinasloe - Galway road.

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

fricatus wrote:

Why then do 47% of those responding to this poll say that the road from Dublin to Galway will be finished first, whereas only 4% say the same about the Dublin-Waterford interurban?

Are they answering the question of which one they hope will be finished first, rather than which one they think will be finished first.

Actually, the Athlone-Ballinasloe is also at tender stage, so the Galway interurban is a good bet (if one excludes the Galway Outer Bypass project that is still in planning). My mistake in the earlier posts - it's only the N7 and N8 that have interurban sections still going through statutory process.

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Just a bump to this as it deals with all of them...

Noticed on the NRA site that the 'late links' (N8 Mitchelstown - Fermoy, N6 Ballinasloe - Athlone, and the N7 Castletown - Nenagh) have all changed from "Through statutory process" to "Tender".

Also the M7/M8 interchange scheme is now marked as "construction".

Progress???

jank

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Is the m7/m8 part being built as we speak.
This imo is the most crucial part of the 2 routes and it was ment to begin 2 years ago yet nothing...

road_high

Zoney wrote:

I for one think it's entirely justified as far as Kilkenny (i.e. the junction with new N10 link) for sure (that is backed up by current traffic volumes and year-on-year increase), and considering a new road build is needed south of that, and it's the smaller bit of the overall route, building DC seems reasonable strategically.

It is nevertheless most certainly leagues behind the other routes in terms of priority. It's not majorly depressing, just it wouldn't be exactly as it should be if the link to Waterford was finished before the others.

I don't understand how or why a road linking the capital with the nearest container port to the continent of Europe can lag far behind the priority of linking up with places in the west/mid west. Mind boggling to me in fact...
Also the distance involved from kilcullen to waterford is appreciably shorter than the rest..

DerekP11

N7: Dublin - Limerick

DerekP11 wrote:

I fancy the N6 to Galway/Dublin (depending on where you live of course).

Only one section on a go slow. Thats between Ballinasloe and Athlone. Every other section is on the move.

Good news! Work has now started this week, on the Athlone - Tuam road junction anyway where it ties in with the existing dual carriageway.

Victor

N7: Dublin - Limerick

mfitzy wrote:

I don't understand how or why a road linking the capital with the nearest container port to the continent of Europe can lag far behind the priority of linking up with places in the west/mid west.

Because many people want their container delivered to Dublin or Cork or Warrenpoint, not Waterford, simply because one ship takes a few thousand trucks off the road.

Bards

I refuse to vote because I firmly believe the WRC should be extended to Cape Clear instead

Extract from http://www.portofwaterford.com/newsgeneral.aspx

The Waterford Container Terminal in Belview is now the main centre for the Port’s commercial activity, with 185,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent units) handled at the port in 2006, which is second only to Dublin in terms of units handled. The chairman added, “An average of 75 ships call at Waterford each month and vessels up to 200m in length can be accommodated. Our development plans will allow Waterford to cater for the ever larger vessels that our customers are investing in – part of a global shift towards increased capacity and fewer trips.

please see http://www.imdo.ie/waterford-port.htm

fricatus

Victor wrote:

Because many people want their container delivered to Dublin or Cork or Warrenpoint, not Waterford, simply because one ship takes a few thousand trucks off the road.

Ehhh... it's the second-biggest container port in the country... someone must want their containers handled there.

But we're going off-topic if we only talk about containers. The Waterford area is one of the country's main commercial/industrial zones. The fact that the city's population is the smallest of those to be served by the interurbans masks the fact that it is the focus of an urban cluster with three more major towns within 15 miles - Tramore (9,634), New Ross (7,709) and Carrick-on-Suir (5,906), all of which have large commuter populations - not to mention the fact that New Ross is a major port in itself!

By contrast, the only comparable town within the same distance of Galway is Tuam (6,885), but I don't hear anyone saying that the Galway interurban doesn't need to be delivered as a priority! Least of all me, I might add.

And Waterford isn't the only place served by the N9. It serves the 13th and 14th-largest city and town in Kilkenny and Carlow, each one bigger than Athlone, for example. Don't forget that there is a large amount of commuter traffic between KK and Carlow, in both directions.

A final point: this idea that we might have built the new N9 only as far as Kilkenny raises its head every so often, but it is ridiculous. It makes the assumption that traffic thins out the further one is from Dublin. It does not. It begins to get heavier again between Carlow and KK, and again within 30 km of Waterford, because of the presence of the port, but also because of commuter traffic from south Kilkenny. The sorry condition of the present road makes it a no-brainer that the motorway/DC should be built the whole way, and receive the appropriate level of priority.

(BTW, population stats from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland/Largest_100)

spacetweek

Deleted User wrote:

Good news! Work has now started this week, on the Athlone - Tuam road junction anyway where it ties in with the existing dual carriageway.

Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the future N6/N18/N17 junction?

Or are you just talking about N6 Galway-Ballinasloe? That started a while back.

spacetweek

N7: Dublin - Limerick

spacetweek wrote:

Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the future N6/N18/N17 junction?

Or are you just talking about N6 Galway-Ballinasloe? That started a while back.

The N6 Athlone -Ballinasloe section, the bit they have started on is at the western end of the existing Athlone bypass (near Elan).

spacetweek

Deleted User wrote:

The N6 Athlone -Ballinasloe section, the bit they have started on is at the western end of the existing Athlone bypass (near Elan).

Just checked NRA's site. Egads, you're right - this scheme started a month ago. Map.

But this means that all N6 schemes are now under construction - the only interruban that can claim this.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

No winner in my books till its drivable They might find a viking horde halfway along the line

jank

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Good stuff.

But what the **** is happening to the portlaoise M7/M8 Section?

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Chris_533976 wrote:

No winner in my books till its drivable They might find a viking horde halfway along the line

It may already be driveabe, in a builders 4x4.

icdg

jank wrote:

Good stuff.

But what the **** is happening to the portlaoise M7/M8 Section?

The NRA site says its Under Construction

http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/LaoisCountyCouncil/N8PortlaoisetoCullahillCastletown/SchemeName,10737,en.html

I drove the N7/M7 today from Dublin to Roscrea and saw no evidence of construction whatsoever. This doesn't mean that they aren't doing work elsewhere on the scheme (the only point where it will meet the present N7 is at the end of the Portlaoise bypass.) You'd think they'd have one of their Transport 21/DOTM signs up though.

icdg

N7: Dublin - Limerick

icdg wrote:

The NRA site says its Under Construction

You'd think they'd have one of their Transport 21/DOTM signs up though.

There are no advertisements (signs) for the Athlone - Ballinasloe road either. Maybe they are at a pre-construction stage, using sub-contractors that will not be part of the main job.

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Yeah they might be working on tree-removal or archaelogy which is done by seperate contractors to the main building scheme.

E92

N9: Dublin - Waterford

I notice that for the past few months, the new N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown has been fenced off so to speak, so I already have a very good idea of where I will be going when that road will be opened.(this was before they went tendering for the said road to be built)

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Re: the fencing off, there definitely seems to be a lot more planning ahead going on as regards roads plans. The NRA got Limerick Co. Co. for example to block all developments/planning applications along all the proposed route corridor options for the N21 from the end of what will be the Adare bypass, to the county border. That section of route isn't going to be going ahead for a few years still!

Archaeology might well be underway on Athlone-Ballinasloe, there tends to be much longer strips of land investigated now; certainly there was large-scale archaeology work on N7 Limerick-Nenagh before the project was announced as starting.

Zoney

N7: Dublin - Limerick

Zoney wrote:

Archaeology might well be underway on Athlone-Ballinasloe, there tends to be much longer strips of land investigated now; certainly there was large-scale archaeology work on N7 Limerick-Nenagh before the project was announced as starting.

I believe that this work has been completed, as there were signs to the "digs" at the Athlone end but these have since been removed.

The work being carried out now appears to be site clearance fencing etc.

Edit: just driven past, looks more substantial than just site clearance, they're making access tracks etc.

jank

N7: Dublin - Limerick

It actually appears that they are doing a good job now with these inter urbans.
Better late then never.

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

True, but since the interurbans are being done now (and not finished by 2006), hellish roads like the N20 are still on the backburner

jank

N7: Dublin - Limerick

True. Hopefully they will put money into those roads once the inter urbans are complete.
By 2020 we should have a pretty good national system of dual carrigway and single carrigeway roads.

spacetweek

Deleted User wrote:

Maybe they are at a pre-construction stage, using sub-contractors that will not be part of the main job.

Hard to know. The official M7/M8 site is woefully out of date. It's also hideous

Chris_533976

N7: Dublin - Limerick

This is the NRAs blurb on it at the moment -

http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/LaoisCountyCouncil/N8PortlaoisetoCullahillCastletown/SchemeName,10737,en.html