M50 upgrade - Phase II

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I assume then that the following applies:

Lane 1: Tractors & cyclists
Lane 2: Trucks & buses
Lane 3: Cars traveling at sightseeing speed
Lane 4: Ferrari's & the like

I'm so looking forward to using your 3rd lane sometime soon.
Once again well done.

Dinny

Almost correct Dinny,

Inside Lane: Ferraris & the like
Middle Lane: Trucks Buses & cars travelling at sightseeing speed
Outside Lane: Cars travelling ever so slightly faster than sightseeing speed

The auxilliary lane is reserved for people leaving the moroway at the next junction. So this is populated by people who wish to go faster than the people in the inside lane dipping in and out.

Chris_5339762

Not quite

Lane 1: Empty
Lane 2: Tractors & Cyclists
Lane 3: Cars travelling at sightseeing speed
Lane 4: Absolutely wedged with cars hogging the overtaking lane

celticbest

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Not quite

Lane 1: Empty
Lane 2: Tractors & Cyclists
Lane 3: Cars travelling at sightseeing speed
Lane 4: Absolutely wedged with cars hogging the overtaking lane

Again not quite,

Lane 1: My own personal lane were I can travel at a steady 100km/h without any other traffic in my way.....
Lane 2: Tractors & Cyclists
Lane 3: Cars travelling at sightseeing speed
Lane 4: Absolutely wedged with cars hogging the overtaking lane

jack presley

http://m50.ie/index.php?page=transformation-of-the-m50-motorway-complete

Who's bright idea was it to delay the opening of the N3 junction until 5:30pm this evening?? 5:30!! That's in the middle of rush hour. Are they really that stupid?

So there'll be another day of long tailbacks outbound on the N3 just so everyone can get their picture taken! Could this have not been done earlier in the day to have it open by 4pm at the latest?

Irish and Proud

jack presley wrote: »

http://m50.ie/index.php?page=transformation-of-the-m50-motorway-complete

Who's bright idea was it to delay the opening of the N3 junction until 5:30pm this evening?? 5:30!! That's in the middle of rush hour. Are they really that stupid?

So there'll be another day of long tailbacks outbound on the N3 just so everyone can get their picture taken! Could this have not been done earlier in the day to have it open by 4pm at the latest?

...yeah, just pull back the barriers - I thought we were stuck for money, so why is there a stupid meanless party holding up the traffic - costing the tax payer on the double! :mad:

Bards

Here is the Press Release that will be released later:eek:

TRANSFORMATION OF THE M50 MOTORWAY COMPLETED WITHIN BUDGET AND FOUR MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE - FINAL SECTION OPENS TODAY, WEDNESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER


The Minister for Transport, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D., will today open the completed 32km M50 Upgrade Scheme that has transformed the M50 from a two-lane heavily congested road with toll barriers and signaled interchanges into a modern free-flowing motorway that has reduced journey times by up to 50%. The upgraded M50 has resulted in shorter, more reliable and safer journeys that improve commuters' quality of life, increase efficiency for businesses and help Dublin to be more competitive in order to attract more foreign inward investment. The one billion euro project was carried out over four and a half years, in the midst of 100,000 moving vehicles per day and was completed four months ahead of schedule. The final section of the upgraded M50 Motorway, the new and improved Junction 6 (N3 Blanchardstown Interchange), will open to traffic at 5.30pm this evening, Wednesday 1st September.

"This upgrade scheme will future proof the M50 by helping to reduce traffic congestion and providing very significant time savings for hard pressed motorists," said Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D., Minister for Transport. "I particularly thank the regular M50 motorists for their patience during the construction phase of this project. It was not easy for anyone as this huge engineering project got underway and I think you will agree that the upgrade has made a real difference and was worth the wait. This investment and the billions more that we are spending on the provision of world class transport infrastructure is helping to boost our national competitiveness. This Government will continue to invest in transport because we are committed to having the proper infrastructure in place to make the most of our economic recovery."

"The transformation of the M50 has dramatically improved the daily commuting experience for every road user in and around Greater Dublin. The M50 Upgrade has proven its value to the entire national network by fulfilling its role as the key motorway hub linking Greater Dublin with the major Interurban Network, benefitting all strategic traffic from wherever they are travelling. It truly is the backbone of our national roads network," said Mr. Peter Malone, Chairman, National Roads Authority. "I congratulate all those who contributed to the planning, design and construction of the M50 Upgrade; it was a highly challenging project that is in an engineering and construction triumph. The entire M50 project could not have been accomplished if it were not for the patience and support of the general public and the dedication of all national and local governmental organisations, including South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the National Roads Authority, the Department of Transport and the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, TD."

"The M50 Motorway is now amongst the highest quality modern road infrastructure in Europe and we in M50 Concession Ltd are very proud to have helped deliver such an important venture that enhances Ireland's economic and social development and improves the quality of life for road users," said Mr. Javier Galera, General Manager, M50 Concession Ltd.

The M50 Upgrade Scheme comprises:-

Widening of 32km of motorway from two to three-lane standard in each direction between Junction 3 (M1) and Junction 14 (Sandyford)

An additional fourth auxiliary lane in each direction between Junction 3 (M1) and Junction 12 (Scholarstown)

Full free-flow interchange at four junctions Jct 3 (M1), Jct 5 (N2 Ashbourne/Finglas), Jct 7 (N4 Palmerstown), Jct 9 (N7 Red Cow)

Partial free-flow interchange at six other junctions Jct 4 (Ballymun), Jct 6 (N3 Blanchardstown), Jct 10 (Ballymount), Jct 11 (N81 Tallaght), Jct 12 (Scholarstown), Jct 14 (Sandyford)

Removal of the West-Link toll plaza to provide barrier free tolling

Establishing a segregated corridor for Luas at Jct 9 (N7 Red Cow), thus removing the need for traffic and trams to cross each other.

The removal of the West-Link Toll Plaza and its replacement with a fully electronic barrier-free tolling system was a crucial element of the strategy for easing congestion on Ireland's busiest roadway allowing drivers to travel unencumbered at the legal speed limit along the M50. As we reach the second anniversary of the commencement of barrier-free tolling, traffic volumes on the toll section are approaching an average of 100,000 vehicles per day, equating to2.9 million transactions being processed per month.

Since the commencementof e-flow over 3 million individual vehicles have used the system. Almost 75% of trips on the toll section of the M50 are by motorists who have opened a toll account with 60% of customers having an electronic tag account and 15% availing of the video account option. The account option allowsmotorists to avail of lower toll rates than available for motorists who choose not to have an account. The revenue raised through e-flow tolling is being used to fund the M50 motorway upgrade costs along with the future operation and maintenance costs of the road.

The M50 Upgrade Scheme was funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan and Transport 21 and was delivered through the National Roads Authority's PPP mechanism.

The NRA appointed M50 Construction Ltd as the PPP partner to deliver Contract 2, to upgrade 24km of motorway between Jct 3 and Jct 6 and between Jct 10 and Jct 14, and operating and maintaining the full M50 Motorway from Jct 3 to Jct 17 for 35 years, until 2042. M50 Concession Ltd is a Joint Venture that comprises of Spanish Infrastructure Developers Global Via Infraestructuras S.A. (GVI) and Sacyr Concessions Ltd. and Irish firm PJ Hegarty & Sons Ltd.

Contract 1, the upgrading of the 8km section between Jct 7 (N4 Palmerstown) and Jct 10 (Ballymount) was carried out by SIAC Ferrovial M50 Joint Venture, comprising Irish firm SIAC and Spanish firm Ferrovial Agroman S.A. This section of the M50 Upgrade Scheme included the transformation of Junction 9, the infamous Red Cow Interchange, to a free flowing interchange with a segregated corridor for LUAS. Contract 3, the removal of the West-Link Toll Plaza and widening of the motorway between Jct 6 and Jct 7, was delivered by Jons Civil Engineering Ltd.

http://m50.ie/index.php?page=transformation-of-the-m50-motorway-complete

cargo

any idea if it's open yet?

Dublin Traffic cam for the junction hasn't been updated since 15:08 so can't tell.

inforfun

Just came from the N3 direction city centre.
As far as i could understand it they did close the lane from Navan(N3) to the M50 Sb so all traffic needing to go M50 Sb will now have to go direction city centre and make the U-turn at the trainstation.
Good luck with that at 17.30....

jack presley

inforfun wrote: »

Just came from the N3 direction city centre.
As far as i could understand it they did close the lane from Navan(N3) to the M50 Sb so all traffic needing to go M50 Sb will now have to go direction city centre and make the U-turn at the trainstation.
Good luck with that at 17.30....

Whoever decided to hold the opening ceremony at 5:30 deserves a good kicking!

If it turns out it's because this was the only time Noel Dempsey could make it, I'll be fuming. If he puts getting his mugshot in the papers ahead of impacting on commuters, it'll be up there with the worst cases of arrogance this Government has shown.

flop

inforfun wrote: »

Just came from the N3 direction city centre.
As far as i could understand it they did close the lane from Navan(N3) to the M50 Sb so all traffic needing to go M50 Sb will now have to go direction city centre and make the U-turn at the trainstation.
Good luck with that at 17.30....

I did this at 14:14 today and itr was a nightmare, had to pull into the travel lodge and do an x point turn. Took even more time to get south bound than using the old roundabout!

Anyway glad its all sorted now so i can try it out next week.

Flop

Amtmann

Attached.

Dubluc

This one is a funny one to me. There's a 24hour bus lane on some of the bridge on the outbound side which appeared since yesterday evening.

It means that if you obey the road rules strictly that there is a short window for leaving at junction 2 on the N4 because following the bus lane there is a continuous white line until the speed limit change.

If like what happened me this evening despite indicating very early a car wouldn't let me over for a good while you'd be getting close to getting stuck until the next exit. Espoecially if you weren't familiar with the road.

Kinda ironic that there is also now as a result a bike lane on the traffic bridge and a seperate bicycle bridge.

mackerski

Furet wrote: »

Attached.

And here's the new junction to scale.

richardjjd

Took the n3 outbound at 530pm. It was a delight - not a single delay (unlike the previous few days). I wonder is that down to genius design or people avoiding the junction because they knew that the official opening was happening during rush hour ...?

Redsoxfan

Great to see the works finally finished, but just wondering about the N4 and N7 interchanges. Would adding a 2nd lane on the off ramp heading west allow for less of a holdup on the M50 itself? Or would that just make entering the N4 and N7 dangerous? Scope certainly seems to exist on the N4 ramp.

I notice that they have painted a continuous white line on the inside of the middle lane on the N4 westbound as far as the bus stop-presumably to 'stop' people coming from the N4 moving into the inside lane and allowing those merging from the M50 to do so more quickly, but I'd be surprised if this does the trick....good to see they are thinking about it I guess.

jack presley

richardjjd wrote: »

Took the n3 outbound at 530pm. It was a delight - not a single delay (unlike the previous few days). I wonder is that down to genius design or people avoiding the junction because they knew that the official opening was happening during rush hour ...?

I reckon it's the latter. I went by about 6:30 and it was a breeze to get through too but there were freak days on the old junction when you used to fly through as well so I'm going to reserve judgment for a while yet.

I was complaining yesterday about the lack of another speed limit sign after the Auburn avenue junction on the N3 inbound to tell you when you were out of the 30kmph zone and I think the same problem exists outbound too. There is a 50kmph sign just before Auburn Avenue and I didn't pass another one until I cam off at the 2nd Blanchardstown exit.

Irish and Proud

Just saw the article about the M50 upgrade on the RTE 9oc news! :rolleyes:

Blink and you would miss - not even 10 seconds. Yet we had the pleasure of seeing the Launch of Tony Blair's book - it got far more coverage! :pac:

Maybe I'm stupid, but I always thought that RTE was our national broadcaster - maybe I don't know what the word 'national' means! :rolleyes:

BTW, I switched off (in more ways than one! ) immediately afterwards! :cool:

jack presley

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Just saw the article about the M50 upgrade on the RTE 9oc news! :rolleyes:

Blink and you would miss - not even 10 seconds. Yet we had the pleasure of seeing the Launch of Tony Blair's book - it got far more coverage! :pac:

Maybe I'm stupid, but I always thought that RTE was our national broadcaster - maybe I don't know what the word 'national' means! :rolleyes:

BTW, I switched off (in more ways than one!:D) immediately afterwards! :cool:

I'm glad it got no coverage. So all the politicians putting on their fancy suits was in vain!

Irish and Proud

jack presley wrote: »

I'm glad it got no coverage. So all the politicians putting on their fancy suits was in vain!

...no mate, have good coverage of the road itself, how it affects the ordinary people, and nothing for the politicians...

...now beat that!

whyulittle

There was a full report on the Six One news, doesn't seem to be online though.

Random

to call it "complete" is a sham. sure, most of it is better than how it was but it's failing so much in so many places. too many bus lanes in the wrong place, speed limits so low that you can't obey them safely, sliproads with bends which are just waiting for winter ...

sk8board

its the best €950m this country ever spend.

interesting to hear NTR today say that the traffic from Jan-Jul is up 25%. more people using it, and yet its free-flow now all the way.

i use about 3/4 of the m50 every day of the week, and the whole length every weekend.

Its now a gem.

chr|st, when I think about the constant traffic jams on this road 4 years ago.

its the best €950m this country ever spent.

Seth Brundle

Random wrote: »

to call it "complete" is a sham. sure, most of it is better than how it was but it's failing so much in so many places. too many bus lanes in the wrong place, speed limits so low that you can't obey them safely, sliproads with bends which are just waiting for winter ...

bus lanes on the M50?

Random

kbannon wrote: »

bus lanes on the M50?

at the various interchanges. bus lanes that were there beforehand have not been cleared properly or bus lanes that are there now turn it into a mess. look at the n3 or the n4.

L1011

There's no bus lanes or vestigial remains thereof through the N4 junction except the one they marked *last night* to try and help then M50NB-M4WB merge.

Random

when you're coming from liffey valley to m50nb the bus lane should end before the liffey valley up slip and well before the m50nb onramp imo. unless it's changed in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

Geogregor

mackerski wrote: »

And here's the new junction to scale.

So, if you drive west on N3 from the center of Dublin you still have to use roundabout with traffic lights. Is that right? How can you call it free flow then?

Random

and to get from blanch to m50sb you have to go via dunsink lane or the phoenix park train station bridge. stupid setup.

mackerski

Geogregor wrote: »

So, if you drive west on N3 from the center of Dublin you still have to use roundabout with traffic lights. Is that right? How can you call it free flow then?

Yes, that's right unless you want the M50 Southbound in which case you just have one set of lights at Auburn Avenue.

The design goal of the junction was to freeflow all movements between N3 and M50 on the outside of the M50. The Man doesn't want you to be inside the M50, so he hasn't invested any money in helping you if you do drive in there.

Sponge Bob

mackerski wrote: »

And here's the new junction to scale.

Some odd blue bits

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=53.38296&lon=-6.36306&zoom=16&layers=M