M7/M8 Portlaoise-Castletown-Cullahill Motorway (incl. Abbeyleix Bypass)

KevR

There was a link posted (ages ago) to a diagram of the layout of the M7/8 junction. Anyone know where to find it?

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Can't find the diagram, (or should that read got bored looking for the diagram.)

This newsletter which was posted on here by Rovi some time ago has some arial photos of the interchange and the section passing under the mainline does look as if it would be wide enough to have two lanes.

http://www.nra.ie/PublicPrivatePartnership/ContractorsNewsletters/file,16961,en.pdf

Amtmann

KevR wrote: »

There was a link posted (ages ago) to a diagram of the layout of the M7/8 junction. Anyone know where to find it?

Post #6 here.

EDIT: Bear in mind that the half diamond interchange a little further west was to have been M7 junction 20. This is no longer being built (rejected by An Bord Pleanála in order to allow for a future full motorway-motorway interchange, amongst other things).

biffoman

thats all very well but why not just build a proper freeflow interchange.ok i know its gona be but there should be a slip for m7s to m8n and m7n to m8s.god you think the planks in lenster house would of learnt a lesson from the m50.they started construction in the mid eighties and were in 2010 and still an incomplete moterway.Build it right first time.

Amtmann

A slightly different perspective is viewable here: http://www.m7m8scheme.ie/eis/pdfs/EIS_M7M8_Volume6_Fig1-31.pdf

Now, I'd love to see a picture of the interchange taken from that extremely large overbridge which spans 8 lanes!

Amtmann

Roosterman or Danno, any chance one of you would be able to take a photo of the interchange from the L5636 overbridge shown here?

MICKEYG

biffoman wrote: »

thats all very well but why not just build a proper freeflow interchange.ok i know its gona be but there should be a slip for m7s to m8n and m7n to m8s.god you think the planks in lenster house would of learnt a lesson from the m50.they started construction in the mid eighties and were in 2010 and still an incomplete moterway.Build it right first time.

Would M7S to M8N be a u-turn?

Tech3

MICKEYG wrote: »

Would M7S to M8N be a u-turn?

I think he meant M8N to M7S, I hate these restricted junctions really another slip would not have cost much extra.

roosterman71

Furet wrote: »

Roosterman or Danno, any chance one of you would be able to take a photo of the interchange from the L5636 overbridge shown here?

I might try get over there Sunday for a look. No promises though!!

Amtmann

How is the tie-in with the Portlaoise Bypass coming along, and has the N7 been realigned to run on top of the new overbridge yet?

mysterious

Furet wrote: »

How is the tie-in with the Portlaoise Bypass coming along, and has the N7 been realigned to run on top of the new overbridge yet?

It has for a few months now.

Tech3

Furet wrote: »

has the N7 been realigned to run on top of the new overbridge yet?

Yep. The toll plaza can be seen from the overbridge also it's not that far away from it maybe 500m south of the bridge.

Amtmann

No pictures.:(

D'Peoples Voice

Rovi wrote: »

Right, here we go:

(from EIS Sheet 1-10 & EIS Sheet 1-11)

Yeah, its definitely taking shape now, any day now....

Rovi

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

Yeah, its definitely taking shape now, any day now....

I took those photos 9 months ago, I'm sure things have changed since then.

Amtmann

Rovi wrote: »

And that massive bridge up there is the one from which we'll gain a great view of the interchange's progress, sooner or later. (Sooner -- if Roosterman manages to get onto it on Sunday!)

Chris_533976

Longest overbridge in Ireland?

biffoman

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Longest overbridge in Ireland?

theres an overbridge near athenry that looks just as big or should i say long.having said that im not contesting what you said Chris,Come to think of it the overbridge that crosses the n18 at the Radisson is chunky enough.Anyway sorry im sliding off topic.Looking forward to seeing how progress is going on this interchange.

mysterious

The bridge over the M7/M9 is pretty long too

xabi

Does the bridge over the Kinsale Road roundabout in Cork count?

X.

Rovi

Right, I got out for an hour or two on Saturday, and got a few new photographs up at the N7 end and around the M7-M8 interchange.

Here's where I took the first batch, around the M7/M8 interchange; the photos were taken from the Locations marked in RED (1, 2, 3), and the under construction M7 and M8 are indicated in YELLOW:



From Location 1 (the overbridge to the N.E. of the interchange, spanning the merging/diverging M7/M8).
Over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. in the direction of the interchange/Limerick/Cork. The north and southbound sides of the M7 are in the centre, with the southbound M8 to the left and the northbound M8 to the right:



Over the northbound lanes of the M8, looking S.W. towards the interchange:



Over the southbound lanes of the M8, looking S.W. towards the interchange:



With a longer lens, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the interchange; that's the northbound M8 emerging from under the M7:



With a longer lens, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the M7 overbridge:



With a longer lens, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the southbound M8:



Turning around, over the centreline of the M7, looking N.E. towards Dublin.
Note the merging sliplanes for the northbound M8 on the left and the diverging sliplanes for the southbound M8 on the right:



Over the divider between the southbound M7 and southbound M8, looking N.E. towards Dublin.
This is where the motorways split heading southbound:



Over the divider between the northbound M7 and northbound M8, looking N.E. towards Dublin.
This is where the motorways merge heading northbound:


I'll very much defer to the experts here, but the M8 merge/diverge sliplanes look to be the same width as the M7 mainline, so I'd suspect the there'll be two full lanes merging/diverging here.




Location 2
Over the centreline of the M7, looking E. towards the interchange/Dublin:



Turning around, over the centreline of the M7, looking W. towards Limerick:


Contrary to the proposed design shown in the map above, this is a simple overbridge (practically identical to Location 3), much closer to the alignment of the original local road, and is not a limited access junction.




Location 3
Over the centreline of the M8, looking N. towards the interchange/Dublin:



Turning around, over the centreline of the M7, looking S. towards Cork.
Take particular notice of the partially completed 'parking spot' on the left :

Rovi

Here's the second batch, around the area of the toll plaza and the existing N7; the photos were taken from the Locations marked in RED (1, 2), and the under construction M7 and the existing N7 are indicated in YELLOW:



Location 1 (the N7 overbridge to the S.W. of Portlaoise)
Over the centreline of the M7, looking N.E. towards Dublin:



Turning around, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the toll plaza/interchange/Limerick/Cork:



With a longer lens, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the toll plaza:





Location 2
Over the centreline of the M7, looking N.E. in the direction of the toll plaza/Dublin:


Turning around, over the centreline of the M7, looking S.W. towards the interchange/Limerick/Cork:

Amtmann

Brilliant! Some of the greatest pictures I've ever seen here. Thank you very much for taking the time to take and annotate them, Rovi. Thrilled by the excellent progress shown.

Chris_533976

Excellent stuff, thanks Looks like this is definiately tracking for a summer finish, maybe even a bit sooner.

greatdepression

just thought i would add this information here.

The new service station at Cashel is due to begin construction in the next 2 weeks with a provisional opening date of 1st august 2010.

Does anyone know anything about the "proposed service area" that is earmarked for the portlaoise/mountrath area of the m7?

roosterman71

Damn you Rovi!! If only I'd read this thread this morning I wouldn't have spent an hour taking pictures of the interchange today

No matter, I've a few of the M8n underpass at the M7. I'll put them up tomorrow sometime

Amtmann

roosterman71 wrote: »

Damn you Rovi!! If only I'd read this thread this morning I wouldn't have spent an hour taking pictures of the interchange today

No matter, I've a few of the M8n underpass at the M7. I'll put them up tomorrow sometime

Do, upload away. The more images the better...

veryangryman

roosterman71 wrote: »

Damn you Rovi!! If only I'd read this thread this morning I wouldn't have spent an hour taking pictures of the interchange today

Ha!

emfifty

greatdepression wrote: »

just thought i would add this information here.

The new service station at Cashel is due to begin construction in the next 2 weeks with a provisional opening date of 1st august 2010.

Does anyone know anything about the "proposed service area" that is earmarked for the portlaoise/mountrath area of the m7?

i presume this is the topaz/mcdonald's effort in cashel, not an official msa....:)

emfifty

the m8 south slip looks like it is approaching a hairpin of a bend, or is it just the lens??