M50 upgrade, Blanchardstown overpass

delly

Just curious regarding the lane upgrade on the M50, how exactly will they add in the extra lanes at the N4 junction without it effecting the bridge I have pointed out in the pic below? As far as i can see the central median has no give as it holds the supports from the other bridges, yet you can't push past the hard shoulder without traffic hitting this bridge.

rameire

delly wrote: »

Just curious regarding the lane upgrade on the M50, how exactly will they add in the extra lanes at the N4 junction without it effecting the bridge I have pointed out in the pic below? As far as i can see the central median has no give as it holds the supports from the other bridges, yet you can't push past the hard shoulder without traffic hitting this bridge.

have thought this myself, a good few times passing the very same point,
there are a few meters space in the central median, and i think they could squeeze a couple out of the side median as they will only be adding an extra lane underneath the junction, so all they need is around 3.5 to 4 meters width of road space.

Phoole

I love this picture. That you were able to take out your camera/phone and take a perfect picture says everything about the M50. You probably had time to pull out your laptop, upload the picture from the camera, open up photoshop and draw in the arrows too before posting your thread before you got home!!!

gurramok

Is the Blanch roundabout due to be resdesigned freeflow style like the Mad Cow one?

It hasn't really been publicised yet that roundabout has gone mad over the years

Irish and Proud

delly wrote: »

Just curious regarding the lane upgrade on the M50, how exactly will they add in the extra lanes at the N4 junction without it effecting the bridge I have pointed out in the pic below? As far as i can see the central median has no give as it holds the supports from the other bridges, yet you can't push past the hard shoulder without traffic hitting this bridge.

This section of the M50 is planned to be a D3M without H/S. The current carriageway configuration is 3.0m H/S + (2 x 3.75m lanes) + 1.0m strip = 11.5m pavement width. The new configuration will provide for 3 x 3.5m lanes = 10.5m. This leaves 1.0m for verge strips either side.

Regards!

delly

Right, so 3 lanes but no hard shoulder. I can see accidents or breakdowns at this spot being a big problem.

Gonzo

I thought motorways had to have a hard shoulder in all places?

Run_to_da_hills

Two obvious solutions, only allow low roof vehicles such as convertibles and motorcycles on the slow lanes in either direction or lower the level of the M50 by a few yards.

Is that an optical illusion? those points look about 10 metres (or more) up!

delly

Yeah, there not the problem, its where they meet the ground that it curves to a point that would hit a truck.

@14

Looking at this image, there appears to be plenty of room in the central median for a couple of extra lanes



PS this is a live shot it may not show what it did @14:00

delly

Theres a tiny bit of space, but the other bridge supports take up most of the room.

I wonder how long before



or

kravmaga

Deleted User wrote: »

Looking at this image, there appears to be plenty of room in the central median for a couple of extra lanes



PS this is a live shot it may not show what it did @14:00

I agree fully with your point, they will just have a central reservation similiar to what the Highways Agency did on the M25 up grade near Heathrow in West London when they expanded to 12 lanes.

Sure the NRA civil engineers are on big bucks to solve this issue, look at the job they have done on the mad cow so far, its like a fcuking rollercoaster on a merry go round, talking about the magic roundabout , and that was made up by people on mushrooms, hehe

kravmaga

http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/FingalCountyCouncil/M50UpgradePhase2PPPContract/SchemeName,11513,en.html

kravmaga

Cannot see any mention of plan to up grade the Northbound side of the N3 Blanch Interchange ,

www.m50.ie

ipodrocker

Yeah thats pretty bad, you would think they would publish detailed drawings on the junctions to be upgraded, Blanch is a mess with all the canals.railways. You would think they would at least publish the junctions to be upgraded.!

Irish and Proud

ipodrocker wrote: »

Yeah thats pretty bad, you would think they would publish detailed drawings on the junctions to be upgraded, Blanch is a mess with all the canals.railways. You would think they would at least publish the junctions to be upgraded.!

The Northern and Southern sections of the M50 are supposed to be covered by www.m50concession.ie, but every time I click that link, a ghastly "Website under Construction" page appears and TBH, it's getting very boring! :mad:

It's been like that since before phase 2 even started - It's a total disgrace! :mad:

Regards!

ipodrocker

Irish and Proud wrote: »

The Northern and Southern sections of the M50 are supposed to be covered by www.m50concession.ie, but every time I click that link, a ghastly "Website under Construction" page appears and TBH, it's getting very boring! :mad:

It's been like that since before phase 2 even started - It's a total disgrace! :mad:

Regards!

i know its stupid with all the signs showing the m50 concession site, you would think a few plans would be uploaded, even tho they are mainly just doing the clearing of the median areas first, unless they are planning to get the mainline to 3 lanes first to speed up the process?? but who knows cause we dont!

stepbar

gurramok wrote: »

Is the Blanch roundabout due to be resdesigned freeflow style like the Mad Cow one?

It hasn't really been publicised yet that roundabout has gone mad over the years

I hope the fcuk it is. Its retarded to have roundabouts with traffic lights:rolleyes:.

df1985

i dont think they can do anything with this junction, the roadway is so high up compared to the n4 or n7 plus the aquaduct for the canal, the random pipe, and also the train bridge-to somehow redesign this junction would cause chaos not only to traffic but also to the train services which are vital for the 3 blanch stops,the 2 leixlip stops and maynooth.a lot of commuters would be forced onto the roads for it to happen.
i always understood the only junctions to be made freeflow were the n7,n4 with the rest being upgraded.i think a few extra slip lanes will the best than can be hoped for at the n3.
as for concerns about the height/space for the extra lane, theyre nearly finished now and it looks fine.

serfboard

df1985 wrote: »

i dont think they can do anything with this junction, the roadway is so high up compared to the n4 or n7 plus the aquaduct for the canal, the random pipe, and also the train bridge-to somehow redesign this junction would cause chaos not only to traffic but also to the train services which are vital for the 3 blanch stops,the 2 leixlip stops and maynooth.

Agreed - anyone remember how long it took to build this bloody junction in the first place? And would you then care to hazard a guess as to how long it would take to upgrade it?:eek:

darkman2

I like the plans for this junction:)

ciaran75

hey darkman,

first time seeing this new image from this angle, do you have this containing the present blanchardstown rounabout, how they going to work that.

Also, i don't see how you can get from blanchardstown to the m50 southbound??

cheers,

df1985

holy ****! so the n3 is effectively being moved to the other side of the fitness centre? where will it join up to the existing road? it looks to be freeflow for everyone except for people coming from the city headin northbound on the m50? looks like they will have to use the existing roundabout??

darkman2

This is the only other image available.



14 new road bridges have to be built for this interchange alone according to the EIS!. See if you can count them;)


http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/11281/N3_interchange.jpg

Some movements


http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/11281/N3_layout.jpg