Commuting from Straffan to Ballyjamesduff via Mullingar (AM I MAD?)

polevault

:eek:Hi i am am about to start a job in Ballyjamesduff Co. Cavan. It is a very good job which will put me in a good positon to expand my career. The only problem is the potential commute to work every morning and evening. I will be living and driving from Straffan in Co.Kildare (10mins from Maynooth). I have driven from dub to cavan before and am dreading the N3 in the morning. I have heard about going down the M4 to mullingar and cutting across by old castle to Bally-duff. What do you think.

Is it possible to do this under 1hr 30mins every day. I start work at 9 in the morn and need to be there at nine!.

Moving nearer to Cavan is not an option at the moment

PROS: no traffic on M4
living where i want to live with family
only slow part seems to be from mullingar through oldcastle?
Maybe M3 could be finished by the end of next year?


CONS: potential for the commute to turn into 2hrs
cost of petrol
cost of depretiation on car
less time to gather myself in the evening
overall well-being


If anyone has driven this way in the mornings and eevening please tell me what to expect and what sort of commute time is it?!!!..

markpb

Wouldn't the N3 be quiet enough since you're travelling against the main flow of traffic?

eve

I live in Maynooth and sometimes travel to Ballyjamesduff to visit friends who live there. We go Kilcock, Trim, Navan, Kells, Viginia.

Looking at google maps maybe Kilcock, Trim, Athboy, Oldcastle would be a shorter route? Don't know what the traffic in these places would be like when you'd be travelling.

You also do a dry run of the route and make alterations to it to find the best route?

polevault

its ok but i find any of the vehicles that do be on it travel at about 60kmph the whole way until i get beyond kells but at that stage i am nearly in cavan running late. Navan is a nightmare to drive through because the lorries pile up there. i know my route on the N3 is not horrific by any means, because i am driving on the good side of it but i am just wondering if down the M4/N4 through oldcastle could be a better option!
What do you think? Should i just stick to the M3 or chance the M4. I suppose i wont really know about the Oldcastle route until i drive it for myself?.

Thanks

polevault

Hi i have looked on google maps and found that way also. I am finding that google tells me that it will be 1hr 29mins to drive the mullingar way and just under 2hrs the Dunboyne/Maynooth way!. AA route planner doesnt know the mullingar route.

the kilcock, trim, athboy route is possible but i heard it is a nightmare to drive but i suppose i can always get my bro who lives in maynooth to drive that way and me to go the mullingar way and see which one is both safer and more driver friendly!!?
After all i will be doing this journey 10 times a week so i need to have a bit of confidence from the start!!.

Victor

Sounds a bit mad. Note they are only building the M3 as far as Navan for the moment.

http://www.viamichelin.com

Via Mullingar.

Time: 01h46 including 00h23 on motorways
Distance: 129km including 41km on motorways

Via M50 - Michelin recommended.

Time: 01h36 including 00h05 on motorways
Distance: 113km including 9.5km on motorways

Via Dunboyne - quickest, most economical.

Time: 01h44 including 00h05 on motorways
Distance: 94km including 9.5km on motorways

Via Kilcock, Summerhill, Trim, Athboy - shortest.

Time: 02h06 including 00h05 on motorways
Distance: 85km including 9.5km on motorways

TheNog

Here is another 2 options for ye. I live in Ballyjamesduff myself and have travelled to Dublin (past job) and Meath (current job)

Maynooth straight to Edgeworthstown on the M4,turn off for Granard and onto BJD. ETA from Maynooth to Edgeworthstown is approx 45-50 minutes and 30/40 minutes to BJD. The road from Granard while small has a good surface

Second option: there is a direct route from Trim to Kells (avoids Navan and Athboy) that goes over a bog road. It is bad in some very small parts and grand in most parts but it takes only 20 minutes and you will come out the right side of Kells to drive around the out skirts and avoid the bottle neck. If you want directions PM me

Whichever you choose avoid N3 into Navan and into Kells at all costs. Absolute nightmare at times. I would recommend option 1.

Oldcastle to BJD is a terrible road,very bad surface. I travelled that way maybe 2 months ago.

jjbrien

Another con going trough Mullingar is having to pay the €2.60 toll each way so thats €5.20 each day €20.8 a week bit expensive if you ask me. also the exta fuel you will use and the extra miles you put on your car is it really worth this? you could try go via some r road and see if you can avoid traffic that way.

DWCommuter

Yes you are mad, but then there are a lot of people driving from Ballyjamesduff to Dublin 5 days a week. Whether that has anything to do with the massive detached houses up there for peanuts is anyones guess.

Best of luck to you and I'd be interested in hearing how you get on.

TheNog

jjbrien wrote: »

Another con going trough Mullingar is having to pay the €2.60 toll each way so thats €5.20 each day €20.8 a week bit expensive if you ask me. also the exta fuel you will use and the extra miles you put on your car is it really worth this? you could try go via some r road and see if you can avoid traffic that way.

You could come off the M4 at Kilcock, travel on the N4 to Kinnegad avoiding the toll.

The miles will mount up though.

jjbrien

TheNog wrote: »

You could come off the M4 at Kilcock, travel on the N4 to Kinnegad avoiding the toll.

The miles will mount up though.

my point is that if the op goes the old road then he or she is limited to 80kph then it is not worth it as there would be no saving in time

TheNog

jjbrien wrote: »

my point is that if the op goes the old road then he or she is limited to 80kph then it is not worth it as there would be no saving in time

But if the OP goes any other road he/she is limited to 80kph pretty much all the way. The distance between Kilcock and Kinnegad is about 29km on a 80kph limit.

Ginger83

Just a point if you decide to go as far as edgeworthstown and cut across to ballyjamesduff you're talking 70 odd miles each way per day plus tolls.The n3 route is around the 50 miles mark. Living in Ballyjamesduff myself I dont like the n3 but you would have the small bit of relief going against most of the traffic. You would just need to time both ways but miles wise the n3 saves you up to 200 miles per week (20 odd quids worth of fuel and no tolls if you cut cross-country to avoid m50)
Potential saving €1,400-€1,500 per year and less stress on the car