M8 - Cashel to Cullahill

fitzgese

Bit off yet, the NRA website says it's due to be finished Q2 2009, but anyone know if this is going to open as motorway all the way, or if not what part of it will?

childoforpheus

fitzgese wrote: »

Bit off yet, the NRA website says it's due to be finished Q2 2009, but anyone know if this is going to open as motorway all the way, or if not what part of it will?

This scheme is part of the current round of redesignations so it should open as a Motorway. That is the Department of Transport hurry up!:rolleyes:

invincibleirish

is the whole M8 going to be open by 2010?, does 2010 include right up to Dec 31st 2010?

Chris_533976

Officially yes, it means end of 2010 I think.

Probably find the last section (or two) of the N8 come in around mid 2010, at a guess.

fitzgese

Excellent, anyone know how it's coming along?

spacetweek

The NRA has the estimated finish date for everything. It looks like this:

Q2 2010 M6 Complete
Q3 2010 M3 Complete
Q4 2010 M7, M8, M9 Complete

It's not clear exactly what the order of opening of M7, M8 and M9 will be. It could be as late as December 2010.

invincibleirish

Hmm, i wonder how much a trip to up the M8 to Dublin will be in terms of petrol & tolls and back again by the time the Mway is hopefully finished in 2010.

Chris_533976

Guesswork would say M6 first, M8 second, M7 third and M9 last. But thats just going from start times of various schemes.

E92

The Fermoy-Mitchelstown road is flying along(certainly from the Fermoy bypass end of bit to before Mitchelstown). It looks like they are already starting to put down some of the surfaces on parts of it, which is great.

When are we ever going to see the Motorway re-classification?

This was announced nearly a year ago, and then the Government finally had their public consultation towards the start of the year, so what are we waiting for?

Amtmann

I heard that Cullahill to Cashel will open by September/October 2008 - well ahead of schedule. At least, when I rang this number - 056 8838238 - that's what the girl said.

With regard to motorway redesignations, a very helpful person at the Department of Transport has informed me that the Minister received a number of objections to the proposed redesignation of HQDCs along the N/M8 route. The NRA was given an opportunity to reply to the objections, which it did. The objectors had until last Friday (June 20th) to respond to the NRA's assurances, and a number did.

So, the Minister will now assess the objectors' objections, and then will decide on the matter. Presumably the redesignations will go ahead ASAP.

See also this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=887

invincibleirish

I drove the sections that are opened at the weekend, the trip through Tipperary is thankfully getting shorter and shorter every time i go up the M/N8, the M7/8 Interchange will be the last come on stream im guessing?

Amtmann

invincibleirish wrote: »

I drove the sections that are opened at the weekend, the trip through Tipperary is thankfully getting shorter and shorter every time i go up the M/N8, the M7/8 Interchange will be the last come on stream im guessing?

Yes. The Mitchelstown to Fermoy scheme is relatively short, and rapid progress is being made there.

I haven't seen first-hand (or even heard from anyone else) how the M7/8 Portlaoise to Culahill section is moving along, but at almost 40km, it's a big project and will certainly be the final installment.

I've started a thread here on the various projects along the M/N8: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055319940

Chris_533976

Yeah thats planned to be the last. Hard to get updates on it as its almost completely offline and far from the current road.

(Also theres no nutters up there going to go driving through the forest to find out)

AugustusMaximus

Wouldn't it have made more sense to have done Portlaoise to Culahill first before doing Cashel - Culahill as Portlaoise to Culahill contains bypasses of both Durrow and Abeyleix ?

icdg

Redesignation or not, the bit between Culahill and Urlingford will be motorway as it has a Motorway Order attached to it. Why they designed one scheme to the same standard, but with motorway regulations only attached to part of it, no one has ever given a clear answer.

Chris_533976

Yup. But this is a PPP and for some reason got delayed till the very bloody end.

It'll be fun to have motorway on the whole route except for Abbeyleix and Durrow on the N8, and similarly Mountrath on the N7.

Chris_533976

icdg wrote: »

Redesignation or not, the bit between Culahill and Urlingford will be motorway as it has a Motorway Order attached to it. Why they designed one scheme to the same standard, but with motorway regulations only attached to part of it, no one has ever given a clear answer.

I think thats because the northern terminus of that runs directly into the M7/M8 scheme with no junction, to stop people turning off and dodging the toll. That way part of it has to be motorway as once you're on it you're travelling to a motorway with no way off.

icdg

Ah, that would explain two points

(a) why its a motorway
(b) why its being built before Portlaoise-Culahill.

Amtmann

I've been trying to post pictures of the M8 Cashel to Cullahill scheme, but I think they're too big to upload.

Basically, the road has every chance of opening by October as far as I can see, which is what the locals are saying anyway.

Most of the road has been tarred and medianed. The coat of tar is by no means the final coat -- there's more to be done there. Some sections do not have the median put up yet, either. No lines have been done, and no cats eyes. There's still a bit of landscaping work to be done too. The grade seperated junction at Cashel is pretty much ready (but the median hasn't been erected yet), and the HQDC has been blended seamlessly with the Cashel Bypass; the one at Horse & Jockey is built too and is functional. The one south of Cullahill is being laid out at the moment, but isn't open to traffic yet.

AugustusMaximus

Furet, if they are too big to upload onto boards.ie try uploading them to www.imageshack.us

They are usually fairly genorous with the size of images you can upload.

Love to see your photos.

Amtmann

Ok, here goes:

Amtmann

And some more...

Amtmann

Some new photos. Alas, I really don't think the road will be ready anytime before November at the earliest. Still, good progress continues to be made.

AugustusMaximus

Bit of work to do there alright.

Will still open before Fermoy Mitchelstown though ?

Chris_533976

Based purely on contract start dates, yes

MDTyKe

Hmm. November? The new M1/N1/A1 link road looked like that - a few weeks before it opened. They appeared to just top it with asphalt pavement and paint the signs in about 2 weeks - the signs went up somewhere in here.

I'd say we could be talking September or early October, not November!

Amtmann

MDTyKe wrote: »

Hmm. November? The new M1/N1/A1 link road looked like that - a few weeks before it opened. They appeared to just top it with asphalt pavement and paint the signs in about 2 weeks - the signs went up somewhere in here.

I'd say we could be talking September or early October, not November!

I hope so. September was the rumour until about a month ago, but everyone seems to be saying November now.

ipodrocker

Furet wrote: »

I heard that Cullahill to Cashel will open by September/October 2008 - well ahead of schedule. At least, when I rang this number - 056 8838238 - that's what the girl said.

With regard to motorway redesignations, a very helpful person at the Department of Transport has informed me that the Minister received a number of objections to the proposed redesignation of HQDCs along the N/M8 route. The NRA was given an opportunity to reply to the objections, which it did. The objectors had until last Friday (June 20th) to respond to the NRA's assurances, and a number did.

So, the Minister will now assess the objectors' objections, and then will decide on the matter. Presumably the redesignations will go ahead ASAP.

See also this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=887

thats great if it only 2 or so months away from the cashel to culahill section being open, currently that part of the current n8 is pain, i was on it last nite and a good old granny driver was driving 50km/h and it was pain and hard to try and overtake.

Amtmann

Will the roadbuilders be taking two weeks off in August like everyone else in the construction industry?

ipodrocker

Furet wrote: »

Will the roadbuilders be taking two weeks off in August like everyone else in the construction industry?

i hope more of the m8 done the better, the culla hill to cashel will be great if its true saying it will be ready sept/oct 08.

Amtmann

I just found out that a lot of the builders are gone on the traditional two week builders' holidays. So practically nothing will be done for the next fortnight.

Amtmann

Gantry frames (for exits) were erected along the route last week. It'll definitely be open by the end of this year, methinks; lots of activity along the entire stretch this past week.

AugustusMaximus

Furet wrote: »

Gantry frames (for exits) were erected along the route last week. It'll definitely be open by the end of this year, methinks; lots of activity along the entire stretch this past week.

Gantries or Cantilevers Furet ?

Stark

I wonder will people be able to use the road to bypass Johnstown when it does open? From the maps on the NRA website, it looks like there's going to be no interchange joining the old N8 between Johnstown and Cullahill in order to funnel people into the M8/M7 toll bridge. (http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/KilkennyCountyCouncil/M8N8CullahilltoCashel/Map,15475,en.pdf). However, I have heard someone say that they'll have a temporary interchange at the end of the Cashel-Cullahill section until the Portlaoise-Cullahill section opens.

Amtmann

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

Gantries or Cantilevers Furet ?

Cantilevers. My bad.

Amtmann

Stark wrote: »

I wonder will people be able to use the road to bypass Johnstown when it does open? From the maps on the NRA website, it looks like there's going to be no interchange joining the old N8 between Johnstown and Cullahill in order to funnel people into the M8/M7 toll bridge. (http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/KilkennyCountyCouncil/M8N8CullahilltoCashel/Map,15475,en.pdf). However, I have heard someone say that they'll have a temporary interchange at the end of the Cashel-Cullahill section until the Portlaoise-Cullahill section opens.

There's something strange going on up at the northern end alright. I was up there a month ago, and they were building what looked to be a very unusual entrance onto the northern end of the scheme -- but no exit for traffic heading northbound. The site was very new, so it was hard to make out what was what exactly. I think I'll head up there again soon for a gawk.

Chris_533976

AFAIK there will be no GSJ at Johnstown, to stop people coming off there and forcing them to use the toll. Until the M7/M8 toll scheme is done there'll just be a temporary junction here.

Thats kinda guesswork tho, could be wrong

BluntGuy

I think that if an interchange at Cullahill is constructed, it should be left there after the M8/M7 scheme opens. There should at least be an exit there for people who want to avoid the toll. It's only fair considering that the section between Urlingford and Cullahill isn't part of a toll motorway. By not providing an exit at Cullahill, in effect, the PPP section of motorway is being extended to Urlingford - Junction 4. This is because when the M8 is complete: Junction 1 will lead you straight into the M7 toll, Junction 2 will be local access only and Junction 3 will be tolled at both the northbound exit and southbound entry (similar to how the Fermoy Bypass is tolled at Junction 15).

Stark

It also looks like the case that people travelling to Cullahill, Durrow or Abbeyleix from Cork will have one of two options: Come off the motorway before Johnstown or continue on, pay the toll, then double back at Portlaoise. There should be an interchange to facilitate these people, especially as the new motorway comes within a hair's width of the old road.

There is a junction near Rathdowney before the toll plaza alright that leads into an R-road to Abbeyleix, but they could easily stick toll gantries on it...

serfboard

BluntGuy wrote: »

in effect, the PPP section of motorway is being extended to Urlingford - Junction 4.

Spot on. So the private company will collect a toll for the publicly-paid-for section of the road? :mad:

It's very different at the M7 end. The private road-public road connection is a junction where you'll be able to turn off from. Why is it not the case on the M8?

Something stinketh ...

BluntGuy

serfboard wrote: »

Spot on. So the private company will collect a toll for the publicly-paid-for section of the road? :mad:

Yep. To be honest, I'm not suprised, looking at the NRA maps that seemed to be the intention from the very beginning. I can't believe they were allowed to go through with it though. If they wanted to do it like this, they should have extended the PPP scheme to Cullahill and forced the private company to build that stretch of motorway as well.

serfboard wrote: »

It's very different at the M7 end. The private road-public road connection is a junction where you'll be able to turn off from. Why is it not the case on the M8?

If think they did it like this because they wanted to trap people onto the toll road with no escape. I am sure it will be signposted as 'M8' rather than 'M8 (Toll)' (like at Fermoy). I think they were afraid if people were allowed to leave at Cullahill, they'd sacrifice a bit of journey time by taking the old roads in order to avoid the toll. The way they've set it up makes it very inconvenient for people who want to be avoid the toll motorway.

They're devious people. :mad:

Amtmann

Plenty of new photos today. Also, the section from south of Urlingford to just south of Turnpike has been lined and has cats eyes put down as well. I was very surprised at the amount of work done over the past month. It'll definitely be open by late October.

A single carriageway road is being constructed just north or Urlingford that looks like a bypass that might link up with the Kilkenny road -- does anyone know what that's about?

Anyways, enjoy the photos...

Amtmann

And a few more...

Amtmann

One more...

Also, see the thread on the Mitchelstown to Fermoy Scheme for photos taken today as well.

Amtmann

Actually I've three more. I'll head up again a month from now.

Again, if anyone is in a position to take a few shots of Cullahill to Portlaoise, please do so.

BluntGuy

It's looking pretty good now...

Steviemak

Furet - once again great work! Thanks for those.

I wasn't sure whether or not the road would be ready by Oct but it looks really likely now.

Amtmann

Furet wrote: »

A single carriageway road is being constructed just north or Urlingford that looks like a bypass that might link up with the Kilkenny road -- does anyone know what that's about?

Just to answer my own question, that single carriageway road is visible on the NRA map here http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/KilkennyCountyCouncil/M8N8CullahilltoCashel/Map,15475,en.pdf as a small spur heading east from Junction 4. It does bypass Urlingford and will link the M8 with the Kilkenny road. Also, the area between Exits 4 and 5 is all lined and marked with cats eyes.

D.L.R.

Furet, seems like you're the one to ask round here... have you passed the M7/M8 Portlaoise-Castletown/Culahill site? I haven't seen a single picture of it yet and it would be nice to know how its coming along. Good pics of the future M8 there, cheers.

Amtmann

D.L.R. wrote: »

Furet, seems like you're the one to ask round here... have you passed the M7/M8 Portlaoise-Castletown/Culahill site? I haven't seen a single picture of it yet and it would be nice to know how its coming along. Good pics of the future M8 there, cheers.

I have. It's by far and away the least developed from what I've seen. I wanted to take a photo or two, but all I could see were stacks of earth and rock -- nothing that really resembled a motorway yet, unfortunately. I think a view from the air would be revealing, but from ground level, nothing much to report.

Amtmann

See attached image: